This article is from page 8 of the 2012-09-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
PRIMARY schools across County Clare are now among the most overcrowded anywhere in the country.
These alarming statistics from primary education in the county have been revealed this week in new study published this week, prompting the county’s Irish National Teachers Organisation supremo to describe them as “a wake up” call for the Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn.
The figures show that now almost 90 per cent of primary pupils in the county are in classes that are greater than the European Union average.
And almost 90 per cent of pupils in Clare schools are in classes of 20 or more, while over a quarter are in “supersize” classes of 30 or more children.
The latest figures show that 27 per cent of primary pupils are in classes of 30 or more, which translates into 3656 pupils in the county being in classes of 30 or more. In addition to this, 58 per cent of pupils are in classes of 20 or more and 15 per cent of pupils are in classes under 20.
The INTO said the figures showed the impact of government cutbacks on the ground in schools. The General Secretary of the INTO, Sean McMahon, the county’s representative on the national executive, described the findings as a wake-up call for the minister. He said Irish class sizes were now the highest in the EU and called on the minister to stop the rise in over-crowded classes.
“Irish class sizes are back to where they were a decade ago and getting worse. In 2002, average class size in Ireland was 24.5m the same as it is today. More than one hundred thousand children (112,821) are in classes of 30 pupils or more, up 10 per cent on the previous year,” said Mr McMahon
The INTO General Secretary, Ms Sheila Nunan commented that the primary school classroom is the frontline of the education service.
“It is where most children spend the majority of their time,” said Ms. Nunan.