Class sizes still largest in OECD
PRIMARY school class sizes in Ireland remain among the largest in the developed world. While there has been some improvement, the average primary class in Ireland has 24.3 pupils compared with an average of 21.7 in 31 OECD countries, and an EU average of 20.3. However, the picture is reversed in lower secondary education with a class size of 19.7 pupils, compared with an average of 23.8 and 22.5 in the OECD and EU, respectively. The figures relate to the 2004-05 school year.
The demographic decline in the teenage cohort of the population has seen a drop in second-level pupil numbers generally and has had a beneficial impact on class sizes.
While several thousand teachers have been recruited into the primary system in recent years, they have been diverted to tackling disadvantage and special needs, and coping with the population growth in this age group.
Education Minister Mary Hanafin yesterday pointed to a drop in the pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) -- which takes account of all teachers in a school and is not a measure of class size -- between 1999 and 2004. But notwithstanding the fall, figures offer only limited comfort, as, at primary level, the pupil teacher ratio of 17.9 in 2004 is still above both the OECD and EU average, of 16.7 and 14.9, respectively.
Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) general secretary John White said only four countries out of 27 included in the OECD table had a higher PTR than Ireland.
Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) general secretary John Carr said: "Irish pupils remain in the second most overcrowded classes in the EU."
Within the EU, only the United Kingdom has bigger primary classes, at 25.8 pupils, while in Denmark, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain, there are fewer than 20 pupils per class.
Minister Hanafin pointed out that the OECD report did not capture the thousands of extra teachers put in place in the past three years.
"The report shows improvements in the pupil-teacher ratio up to 2004, it is important to remember that it has improved even further since then, with one teacher for every 16 pupils now at primary level and one for every 13 at second level," she said.
