Fast-tracking extra teachers may help tackle class sizes

Schools may get extra teachers faster to meet rising enrolments and avoid what Education Minister Ruairi Quinn said is the unacceptable practice of having 35 children in some classes.

He admitted his department’s system of assigning teachers to schools based on the previous year’s pupil numbers was outdated.

It is the reason why many schools have classes over 30, when teachers are allocated for every 28 pupils in each primary school, because there is generally a year’s delay between rising intakes and the appointment of additional teachers.