Government criticised for failure to control pupil/teacher ratio

THE Government’s failure to plan education facilities has left more than half the children in west Dublin schools in some of the country’s most overcrowded classes, the Labour Party has claimed.

The party’s Dublin West TD, Joan Burton, was reacting to Department of Education figures showing that 89 of the 167 classes in 10 primary schools in Dublin 15 have at least 30 pupils, more than double the national average, as one-in-four of the country’s primary pupils are in classes of 30 or more.

The figures supplied by Education Minister Mary Hanafin in reply to Dáil questions from Ms Burton, reveal that the situation is far worse in some cases.