Cork school calls for smaller primary classes as 32 pupils pack into one classroom

Teachers say overcrowded classrooms make inclusion harder as noise, limited space and pupil numbers add to pressure

The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) is calling for investment as part of Budget 2027 to tackle such overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages. File picture: Chani Anderson 

Cramped desks, more noise impacting on learning, and teachers’ energy being drained; such are the conditions in Ireland’s ‘supersize’ primary school classes.

That is the view of one of Cork’s 14 primary schools with classes of 30 students or more.

In Passage West, Star of the Sea National School currently has a senior infant class with 32 students. It opened its doors yesterday to showcase the realities of the school day for teachers and students in these large classes.

“You’d notice in the smaller classes, there’s more of a sense of calm,” said school principal Aine Corrigan.

“There’s more space. In the bigger classrooms, there’s way less space to actually make your way physically around the classroom.

“The bigger classes don’t have space for things like a calm corner, or a library, so the library might be out on the school corridor.”

It’s also noisier for the students, and puts extra pressure on class teachers, who have to account for the different needs of more children.

“I can see in them how much it takes from them,” Ms Corrigan said. “They really give their job their all, but it does take its toll on them. The amount of energy that it takes to bring what they need to a class of 32 is very hard.

“We’re really focused on inclusion, but if you have 32 children, and there are children that need to be differentiated for, it obviously makes it more difficult when you have more children.

“It makes it very frustrating from a teacher’s point of view. They know all the children’s needs, but it’s frustrating that they can’t get to them as much as they want to get to in a bigger class.”

Nationally, there are currently 1,251 primary school classes with 30 children or more. Almost 429,000 children attend primary schools nationally in a class larger than the EU average of 19 students.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) is calling for investment as part of Budget 2027 to tackle such overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages.

Ms Corrigan said she would like to see the pupil-teacher ratio reduced in the budge next week.

“The programme for government aims to bring the ratio down to 19:1, but they haven’t changed in the last three years.

Principal Aine Corrigan speaks to Anna Horan, parent of a Senior infants pupil at Star of the Sea National School in Passage West whose class doubled in size following the amalgamation of two infants classes after the school lost a teacher. Picture: Chani Anderson

“If they don’t bring it down, it will be the fourth year they haven’t. The population of school-going children is reducing, so it’s cost neutral. 500 class teachers were lost last year because of the decreases. If they reduced the pupil teacher ratio, it would mean we are still keeping the same amount of teachers from last year, coming back into the system.”

A Department of Education spokeswoman said the Government “remains committed to reducing class sizes and will consider how best to achieve this, in the context of annual budgetary processes.”

“Budgets 2021, 2022 and 2023 collectively improved the primary staffing schedule by one point each year, which means that our primary schools now operate on a general average of 1 classroom teacher for every 23 pupils.”

Primary schools are now “staffed at the most favourable level ever seen”, she added.

“With the historically low general average of 23:1, if a school has a class of 30 pupils, it also has much smaller classes.”

• Jess Casey is Education Correspondent.