Ireland has most children per class

IRELAND has the largest number of children per class in Europe and our teachers have to work longer than most to earn the top salary, a report revealed yesterday.

There are 18 pupils for every teacher in the country, and the figure is 21 at primary school level. This compares to just 10 pupils per teacher in Danish primary schools.

While the pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) is not an exact measure of average class sizes, it gives a clear indication of comparative figures across Europe. Falling student numbers and more teacher training places have helped reduce PTRs here in the last five years, but more than 100,000 primary school pupils are still in classes of 30 children or more.