Ireland has highest pupil-teacher ratio in EU after Britain

THE number of pupils per every teacher in Irish schools is the second-highest in Europe, despite huge increases in Government investment in education.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) comparison of pupil/teacher ratios (PTRs) in 26 of the EU’s 27 member states shows there are more students for every teacher here than anywhere except Britain.

The 16.3 PTR is based on a combination of figures from primary and second level, and compares to just 9.3 and 9.5 in Lithuania and Greece, respectively.

PTR measures all teachers in a school, including classroom teachers, special needs teachers, principals, and guidance counsellors.

Out of 25 countries for which the second level PTR up to Junior Certificate was measured, Ireland had the third highest ratio.

Only Germany’s and Britain’s second-level PTRs were higher than the 14.3 recorded in Ireland, according to the comparison with 2004 figures from Eurostat.

Education Minister Mary Hanafin last month rejected criticisms of second-level class sizes after an Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) survey showed that more than 100,000 Junior Certificate students were being taught key subjects in classes of 25 or more.

However, the CSO’s Measuring Ireland’s Progress 2006 report shows that second-level class sizes here are among Europe’s lowest, at 19.8.

The average primary class size of 24 pupils places Ireland below every EU country except Britain, out of 23 states for which figures were compared. Irish children, meanwhile, share a class with 10 pupils more than their counterparts in best-performing Lithuania.

Ms Hanafin sanctioned extra teachers to help reduce primary class sizes last year, and additional teachers are planned for the coming school year.

“This report shows that primary education must be a priority for the next government, as Irish children are learning in some of the EU’s most overcrowded classes,” said Irish National Teachers’ Organisation general secretary John Carr.

Despite the figures, the CSO showed that non-capital spending per student increased by two-thirds on primary education in the decade to 2005, and by just over half for second level. However, the equivalent spend at third level rose by less than 1%.