Large class sizes a ‘black mark’ on Ireland’s education record – INTO
September 5, 2013
That almost a quarter of primary school children are in classes of 30 or more is a “black mark” on Ireland’s education record, according to teachers’ union, the INTO.
Departmental statistics revealed that more than 120,000 children, or 23.5 per cent, of primary school children in mainstream schools were in classes of 30 or more in the last school cycle. In certain local authority areas that percentage was closer to a third, with 31.5 per cent of primary school pupils in Wicklow and 30.6 per cent of those in the Limerick County Council area in classes of 30 or more pupils.
The largest class in the country recorded in the 2012/13 school cycle had 41 pupils in a Co Cork school. Three schools, located in Cork, Monaghan and Galway, each had one class of 40 pupils. The school that recorded the largest number of primary school children was St Mary’s parish primary school in Drogheda, Co Louth. The smallest school in the country, St Columbus National School on Inishturk off Co Mayo, recorded just three pupils.
Average class sizes
The average class size increased slightly from 24.4 in the 2011/12 school year to 24.7 in 2012/13.
The latest statistics were contained in the department’s annual census of mainstream primary schools conducted on September 30th, 2012.
Peter Mullan of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation noted that in the 2012/13 year there were more than 8,500 students in classes of 30 or more pupils than in the previous academic year.
“Class sizes have the biggest impact on children’s learning – all the evidence shows that in smaller classes of 20, which is the EU average, learning outcomes improve.
“The evidence also shows that younger children benefit from smaller classes . . . and the third piece of evidence that is very clear is that children from disadvantaged backgrounds do better in smaller classes,” he said, calling for a Government commitment to reduce class sizes.
Barometer
Larry Fleming of Ballinamere National School in Co Offaly and public relations officer with the Irish Primary Principals’ Network, said the “real barometer in any class is the quality of teacher but the simple fact of the matter is that the quality of a teacher, no matter how good, depends on the number of children they have in front of them”.
However, in a statement released yesterday evening, the Department of Education said there had been no change to the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools.
“Some 900 extra primary and secondary school teachers are being recruited this year to maintain class sizes,” a spokeswoman said.
“The pupil-teacher ratio of 28 to one in primary schools is unchanged under this Government. Class sizes are managed locally by the principal. There will inevitably be individual classes that are bigger or smaller than 28. It is also worth noting that about one-third of all classes have fewer than 25 children.”
Case study
‘In a class of 30 pupils where is the centre of the classroom anymore?’
When Mary Mother of Hope senior national school in Littlepace, Dublin 15, opened its school gates last year, 477 children poured through them.
As with any cohort in this relatively young Dublin suburb, the student population included a diverse mix of children with varying learning and language abilities and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Almost two-thirds – some 64 per cent of pupils – ended up in classes of between 30 and 34 pupils. School principal Enda McGorman said such large classes pose a challenge for teachers trying to meet the diverse needs of all their pupils.
“The reality is the complexity of the classroom now is such that, with bigger class sizes, teachers are finding it hard to meet the huge variety of needs of children,” he said yesterday, after new figures revealed that almost a quarter of Ireland’s primary school children are in classes of 30 or more pupils.
“We have children with special education needs, children from newcomer backgrounds and you have a mix of socioeconomic circumstances as well, and you have all that in one class of 30 pupils – where is the centre of the classroom any more? Where do you teach to?
“If you focus your attention on one child, one group or cohort it is then really challenging to ensure the others are being as well attended to.
“In years past we could have pointed to the resource teacher, to English languages resource teachers, special needs assistants . . . but the supports aren’t there now and yet our class sizes are continuing to grow,” Mr McGorman said.
He said schools are using all the resources at their disposal, including the use of learning support teachers, to help ensure pupils’ needs can be more closely met.
“Smaller class sizes would give us closer proximity to the learning and needs of every child.”
www.irishtimes.com
Irish education has ‘long way to go’ to be world class
September 5, 2013
Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn has said Ireland has a long way to go to have the kind of “world class education system that we need to have”. He said before this goal was achieved it had to be recognised that “the assertion that was so frequently trotted out in the past, but which blatantly wasn’t true, was that we had one of the best education systems in the world”.
Mr Quinn said this was an “assertion based on no evidence whatsoever other than something of a feelgood factor that was communicated to us at home by the greater Irish diaspora who felt, for whatever reason, that it was better than what their children were experiencing in other parts of the world.”
Mr Quinn was speaking ahead of the opening of the Fifth National Conference on Research in Mathematics in Ireland (MEI5) at St Patrick’s College Drumcondra, Dublin. The Minister also said he will respect whatever decision secondary teachers make when they are balloted next week on the Haddington Road agreement. Industrial action could be initiated in second-level schools as early as next week if teachers vote to reject the deal. Ballot papers have been issued to more than 30,000 members of the ASTI and TUI unions this week. Teachers are being asked to vote on the deal brokered in May and already backed by the primary teachers’ union the INTO and other public sector unions. “It’s a matter for themselves. They’ve had the summer to reflect on changes in the system,” Mr Quinn said. “Most other people in the public sector have responded to the Haddington Road agreement and the opportunities and the constraints that it offers at a time when everybody in our country has been affected by the disasters of the previous government. “But it’s a matter for them to make their own choice and their own decision and I will respect whatever decision they make.”
With regard to pupil/teacher ratios, Mr Quinn said there had been “no change” since he came into office in the ratio for primary school pupils. “What has been the big change is the massive increase in numbers, which we have anticipated.” He said there had been a “kind of car-crash moment” two years ago when he had seen projections of pupil numbers. There was a €2.2 billion capital building programme to increase capacity and this year marked the second in the programme to get rid of prefabs in schools, he said. These were a “temporary” solution and were “not desirable”, particularly in winter. “We have, as you saw, 22 per cent of all of the pupils in classes of over 30, which makes it very difficult for teachers to try and get around to everybody, particularly if the class is mixed in terms of background and different ability. “So I’m aware we have a massive demographic growth. We would like to have more classroom space to enable principals to redeploy the teachers that they do have and teaching assistants.”
On today’s Cabinet meeting, Mr Quinn said the Government was “looking forward to getting back to work”. But he said the forthcoming Budget would be the “hardest” of the three budgets under the troika regime, because “everybody is taking a hit”. “We’ve got still more road to travel before we get back in control of our own economy and our own economic sovereignty. The choices become more difficult with each year because the easier difficult choices are the ones that are made first so it is going to be difficult.”
Mr Quinn said the misalignment of the fiscal year and the academic year meant all figures for his department’s budgetary purposes would not be available until the end of September. “So the baseline upon which we will have to make adjustments doesn’t clarify itself until very close to budget day itself. So that’s a new kind of difficulty that we have to encounter.” The theme of the conference in St Patrick’s College today and tomorrow is Mathematics Education: Crossing Boundaries. Mr Quinn told those in attendance the Government had taken a number of initiatives in recent years to develop mathematical understanding, knowledge and skills amongst young people and this work would continue.
Project Maths, supported by a significant investment in professional development for teachers, had been the most “radical curriculum development” on the academic calendar at post primary level since its launch in 2008. The maths syllabus for junior cycle would be reviewed in the near future, he said. He also welcomed the 58 per cent increase in the number of students taking higher level maths at Leaving Cert level, attributing it to the award of 25 bonus points for the subject. He paid tribute to his predecessor, former Fianna Fáil minister Mary Coughlan, for supporting that initiative. President of St Patrick’s College, Dr Daire Keogh, said the conference was dedicated to creating a forum for sharing ideas and best practices in the field of maths teaching and exchanging the latest research results. Distinguished speakers in mathematics education would, he hoped, spark “stimulating discussion” about the teaching and learning of mathematics. Presentations by teachers and researchers will also highlight effective classroom practices.
www.irishtimes.com
Cúnamh don bhéal triail
September 5, 2013
Primary school groups unite to fight further cuts
September 5, 2013
Primary school education groups have warned that educational spending could be a huge political issue in next year’s local elections.
The groups have joined forces to form the National Alliance for Primary Education in a bid to stop further spending cuts in primary education in next month’s budget. The alliance believes any attempt to cut primary education is essentially a direct attack on children and their constitutional right to education.
A postcard campaign, aimed at TDs and organised by the alliance, is to start this week. It calls on politicians to protect primary education in the budget so schools can contribute to the national recovery.
“Primary school children did not cause our economic crisis,” say campaigners. “They should not be forced to pay for it through education cutbacks.”
Áine Lynch, the chief executive of the National Parents Council–Primary, said: “We are calling on parents, teachers, principals, and the wider community to get behind this campaign.”
Paul Rowe, the chief executive of Educate Together, said children in primary schools bore no responsibility for the difficulties of the Government and financial system.
“We are asking the Government parties to be aware of the significance of the local elections coming up next year,” he said. “That this is a major political issue which has to be addressed.”
Brendan O’Sullivan, president of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, said more cuts in education were being threatened in the name of a discredited austerity regime but were not necessary.
“There is a choice being made here to make these cuts on the backs of children in primary school,” he said. “For any of us that is not acceptable.”
Brendan McCabe, president of the Irish Primary Principals Network, said Finland increased its education budget when the country was in recession and Ireland should do the same.
As reported in the Irish Examiner earlier this week, primary class sizes increased slightly in the last school year with no changes to the ratio of almost 25 pupils per teacher, even though there were no changes to how staff are allocated to schools. With schools accepting more pupils but not enough to be allocated extra teachers, 121,353, or almost one in four, pupils were in primary classes of 30 or more, around 8,500 more than the previous year.
The effects of counting guidance counsellors in secondary schools’ general staffing allocation of all contributed to a rise in pupil-teacher ratios from 13.5:1 to 13.9:1.
Gerard Craughwell, president of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland, said schools operated with 650 fewer teachers than they should have, contributing to the loss of subjects such as physics, music, languages, and others.
www.irishexaminer.com
Ranganna Gaeilge an Fhómhair i nGaillimh
September 5, 2013
Gaelscoil Mhic Aodha in the newspapers
September 4, 2013
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Cainteanna ar litríocht agus chultúr na hóige
September 4, 2013
Commuter-belt pupils face most crowded classrooms
September 4, 2013
Enrolments at highest in 20 years
Almost 25pc in ‘supersize’ classes
ALMOST one-in-three school pupils in some parts of the country is now in a “supersize” classroom of more than 30 children.
The children of commuter- belt families are suffering the most overcrowded classrooms, new figures confirm.
As primary-school enrolments rise, average classes are getting bigger almost everywhere throughout the country, with a spike in the number of pupils in classes of 30 or more. But some communities are being hit much harder than others, according to the latest figures from the Department of Education.
Wicklow tops the table with 31.5pc of children in classes of 30 or more, slightly ahead of Limerick county at 30.6pc. This means that almost one-in-three pupils in those areas is being taught in so-called “supersize” classes.
Children living in areas of rapid population growth on the outskirts of Dublin, and neighbouring counties, are also among the worst affected. There is also a big squeeze in classrooms in Cork county and Waterford county, parts of which experienced a population boom in the past decade.
In contrast, class sizes are generally stable, or falling, in many rural areas and in cities, reflecting trends in population.
The average class size rose to 24.7 in 2012-13, up from 24.5 the previous year. It compares with an EU average of 20. However, the slight increase in the national average masks a shocking jump in the number of pupils in classes of 30 or more, the precise impact of which depends on where a family lives. Primary pupils in Wicklow and Limerick counties are almost twice as likely to be squeezed into a class of 30 or more, when compared with those in the largely rural Cavan and Roscommon, where the rate is 16.2 pc.
However, teachers in small rural schools may be dealing with the complexity of more than one class in each classroom.
At the other end of the scale, the department’s figures also show a drop in the number of smaller classes in schools. In Dublin Fingal, only 2.6pc of pupils are in classes of under 20, down from 3pc a year previously. This compares with 21.4pc in Roscommon.
Pushed
Overall, 13 areas stand out as having the most crowded classrooms – a combination of the highest proportion of children in classes of 30 or more and the lowest proportion of pupils in classes of fewer than 20. They are: Dun Laoghaire/ Rathdown, South Dublin, Fingal, Kildare, Meath , Wicklow, Wexford, Laois, Kilkenny, Carlow, Waterford county, Cork county and Limerick county.
The 70,000 junior infants starting in primary schools this week have pushed enrolments to their highest levels for more than 20 years – and about 10,000 more than last September as more children pour into schools, the number in classes of 30 or more has risen by 8,000 since 2011/12 to over 121,000 in 2012/13. It is up from 97,000 in 2010/11.
That amounts to an overall average of 23.5 of primary pupils – almost one in four or – in “supersize” classes, up from 22.3pc the previous year, as a result of growing enrolments and cuts in staffing in small primary schools. At the same time, the proportion of pupils in classes of fewer than 20 has dropped to 10.6pc, from 11.9pc in 2011/12.
Faced with rising enrolments, at both primary and secondlevel, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has made a commitment to provide a school place for every child and this term has seen the opening of seven new primary schools to serve growing populations.
But while schools are being built to accommodate numbers, classrooms are getting more crowded.
The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) said that at the same time as class sizes were rising, non-class teachers were being cut from the system.
“More and more responsibility is being put on the class teacher to meet the needs of children with little English, special needs or disadvantaged backgrounds,” said INTO general secretary Sheila Nunan
According to the INTO, smaller classes are most important when children are young.
www.independent.ie
Education groups welcome proposals
September 3, 2013
Admission Bill would transfer appeals process back to schools
School management organisations have concerns about impact on administration
Plans to eradicate school waiting lists have been welcomed by education and parents’ groups: Plans to eradicate school waiting lists and booking deposits for school places have been broadly welcomed by education and parents’ groups.
The proposed Admission To Schools Bill would also make it more difficult for schools to discriminate on the grounds of limited resources in cases where children have special learning needs.
“For too long, young people with special educational needs have been deprived of the opportunity to attend the school of their choice and the proposed legislation should eliminate this discretionary practice,” said Michael Moriarty of Education and Training Boards Ireland.
However, school management organisations have expressed concerns about how the changes might impact on administration. The draft Bill proposes to remove the current system that allows parents to make an appeal to the Department of Education where they are unhappy with a school decision on student admission, known as a section 29 appeal.
The new scheme, details of which were published by the Department of Education yesterday, would transfer the appeals process back to schools.
Religious patronage
Ferdia Kelly of the Joint Managerial Body, which represents 400 voluntary secondary schools with religious patronage across the country, says his members are not in favour of a “cumbersome” appeals process.
“We don’t want an appeals process that will bog us down in bureaucracy. The section 29 appeal process is working well. There are fewer than 300 appeals lodged each year, out of well over 100,000 admissions, and less than half are successful. This is because most schools’ admission policies, as they currently stand, are working.”
Mr Kelly said it was important not to create false expectations for parents. “In a situation where demand exceeds supply, someone will always be disappointed.”
Booking deposits
Don Myers, president of the National Parents Council – Post Primary, said he welcomed “some aspects” of the Bill.
“We get a lot of queries from parents regarding the demand for booking deposits and we feel they should not be charged.
“I understand that schools have an issue with parents putting their child’s name down on a number of lists and that may be why this practice has developed.
“However, it works both ways, and often parents don’t get that money back if a place is not offered.”
However, Mr Myers said the Bill would not do away with undersupply in a small number of key schools where problems arise.
“Where you have a number of schools in an area, one will be seen as the best. Not everyone can get in there.”
Draft Bill
Áine Lynch of the National Parents Council – Primary, said yesterday’s draft Bill had “moved the discussion on”.
“Booking deposits were never an issue at primary level, but recently they have become a major feature. This bill, if enacted, would do away with that problem.
“The inability of some students to access certain schools may be a problem for a minority, but for those it affects it is very significant.
www.irishtimes.com
Fresh air and exercise books at Crann
September 3, 2013
Meath pre-schoolers started their education ‘al fresco’ yesterday in three of only four outdoor schools in the country.
Nearly 60 children will learn how to count with stones and create with muck and water at the open-air facilities in Navan, Trim, and Ballivor. The only other such school in the country is in Co Donegal.
In Meath, the initiative was started nearly three years ago in Navan by the Crann Support Group and further branches were opened in Trim and Ballivor last year. All schooling is done through Irish.
According to CEO Marie Daly: “In Denmark, the bus arrives for the children at 8am and takes them up the mountains to the woods for their pre-school day. It’s been long acknowledged in Scandinavian countries that the outdoors is far better for building up immune systems. The children love it — it’s the mindset of parents that we have to change.
“After all, there’s no such thing as bad weather — just inappropriate clothing! However, in cases of high winds or bad frost, the school management do take precautions and delay bringing the children out to the garden until the weather improves.
“The children wear special thermal and waterproof gear and stay in the garden for most of the day. We have no plastic in the outdoor school, just things like an old Aga cooker and pots and pans, where they can cook with muck and water.
“The young students sit on logs and learn how to count with stones. There is an old Traveller wagon for story-time as well. It’s the exact same programme as pre-schoolers learn indoors — only we do it inside-out.”
Ms Daly said many parents have seen the benefits of outdoor education in their children’s health — especially those with respiratory ailments. “One parent told me that their child was hospitalised four times with asthma last year but since they started here, they only had one minor attack,” she said.
All schools are approved by the Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme for free places. The Crann Support Group provides sustainable and affordable community childcare in Co Meath. More on the pre-schools and the group’s childcare services can be found at www.crannsupportgroup.ie
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