Ratio of students to teachers set to drop after Budget 2018

The ratio of students to teachers in primary school is set to drop as almost 1,300 new teaching posts will be created.

The Budget introduced a number of measures for the education sector with a €554 million increase in 2018. Around 1,300 more teaching positions will be created, including 305 posts to reduce the student-teacher ratio at a primary school level. According to the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, 545 jobs will be catering for an estimated 8,000 more pupils in 2018; while 230 new teachers will be in special classes and special schools. And the Minister for Finance said that €46 million would be spent to address the demographic growth. Further funding has been made available to recruit more than 1,000 special needs assistances - bringing the total to 15,000. The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation said that they welcomed the move to lower the student-teacher ratio in primary schools. The union added that Irish primary school classes were the second largest in the European Union, just behind the UK. INTO General Secretary Sheila Nunan said:

"This is the first move to tackle overcrowding by this Government. "Irish primary schools will see this as progress towards a fairer deal for children. This decision will benefit children in primary schools. "Teachers have more time with each pupil in smaller classes and can identify when a child is having difficulties faster."

But the spokesman for the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland said that the Budget did nothing for the over-crowded classes at a secondary level. ASTI’s General Secretary Kieran Christie said:

"Given the sustained economic growth over the past few years, it is unacceptable that the pupil-teacher ratio at second level remains higher than it was this time 10 years ago. "The cuts introduced during the recession must be reversed as a matter of urgency."

It comes as Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin called for increased funding to schools and lower class sizes. The Labour party spokesman for Education said that the lack of discussion on education funding in the lead up to the budget highlights a failure in Fine Gael and Fianna Fail “to make investment in our children’s future”. He added:

“Labour proposed increased funding to schools by €10 per child in 2018, increased to €20 per child for any school that agrees in writing to put an end to the practice of requesting voluntary contributions and other charges to parents. “In 2016, Labour delivered the first improvement to class sizes in a decade. “In the worst of times we protected them, and when the economy improved we immediately reduced them. "For the second year in a row, Labour in our Alternative Budget provided for the reduction in class sizes in primary and secondary schools. “But the last Budget under FF and FG saw that progress grind to a halt, with the latest figures showing that Irish class sizes are still significantly higher than international norms. “Labour has long argued that small er class sizes give a teacher more time to spend with each child, and can have a particularly positive impact on young children, and those in disadvantaged communities. “So once again, we are calling on the Government to publish a roadmap outlining how it will fulfil its Programme for Government commitment to reducing class sizes. “It is clear that at the moment free education is still an aspiration in this country. “Parents are incurring too many hefty hidden back to school charges and the Government is doing little to ease the burdens parents face.”