The Clare representative of Ireland’s largest teaching union says class sizes will not reduce here until the State significantly increases its funding of the education sector.
It comes as new figures reveal more than half of this county’s primary school pupils are in classrooms with more than 25 other students.
Of the 13,000 children that were attending primary schools across Clare during the last academic year, more than 7,000 of them have 25 or more pupils being taught in the same room as them.
That’s despite Department of Education’s own guidance – which became operational in 1990 – suggesting that an ‘appropriate learning experience’ is difficult to achieve when class sizes exceed that number.
More than 2,500 primary school children across the Banner are in classrooms with over 30 students, while 178 are learning with 35 pupils or more in the same room.
Aontu Midwest member and primary teacher Eric Nelligan, whose party uncovered the figures, believes CAO points for teaching courses should be reduced to ensure class sizes here can drop.
Clare’s delegate on Ireland’s largest teaching union body says no progress will be made on class sizes unless further investment is provided at Government level.
The Department of Education’s budget for 2021 is €8.9 billion – a 5 percent increase on 2020 levels.
That’s around 3 percent of the country’s GDP – with the UK standing at 4.5% and other European countries hitting 5 or 6 percent.
INTO rep for Clare, Waterford and Tipperary, Brendan Horan insists any further investment in education will be worthwhile for the country’s future.
