Children called units of ‘enrolment’

THE Department of Education is to change the phrasing in official documents which describes children as “units of enrolment”.

The term was used up to about 15 years ago by officials at a time when staffing promotions and allowances were based on pupil numbers, but a weighting system operated which favoured older pupils. Based on a value of 1.5 for under-nines, 2 for nine to 12-year-olds, 3 for 13 to 15-year-olds, 4 for 15 to 16-year-olds, 6 for 16 and 17-year-olds and eight for those aged 17, schools were entitled to different numbers of promotional posts and scaled allowances for principals and their deputies.

Though those under-nine are no longer given such weightings, the term has continued to appear in official documents. The latest example was the staffing schedule issued last week for primary schools which, because of the tightened economic situation, did not implement the Government’s pre-election promise to help reduce class sizes.