Primary school to have 35 pupils in one classroom

IN a school of its size, there shouldn’t be more than 28 children in one classroom, but one teacher in a Co Cork school will have 35 pupils to teach after the mid-term.

Parents at the Passage West school have been reacting with horror to news that two fifth classes and two sixth classes are to be amalgamated and divided into three classes as a temporary teacher will not be replaced after mid-term.

The school had projected that it would have 410 pupils this year, but their actual numbers fell by 23 when a number of families moved out of Passage West over the summer.