Teachers set to make classroom size an election issue

PRIMARY school teachers in Waterford county and city are preparing to make classroom sizes a key issue in the next general election in the four-seat constituency where Fianna Fáil will be defending the two seats it has consistently held for a generation and more.

Thousands of parents countywide have signed an INTO petition as part of the organisation’s national campaign to persuade the Government to fulfil its pre-2002 general election pledge to bring class sizes down and reach a target of fewer than 20 children under the age of nine per class.

Officers from INTO branches throughout the county met deputies Ollie Wilkinson (FF) and Brian O’Shea (Lab) and Senators Brendan Kenneally (FF) and Maurice Cummins (FG) to demand classroom sizes be significantly reduced.