The Irish National Teachers' Organisation is to intensify its campaign for smaller class sizes amid anger that more than 100,000 children are still in classes of over 30 pupils. Seán Flynn, Education Editor, in Galway.
The union has expressed its disappointment with what it called the "failure" of Minister for Education Mary Hanafin to address the issue yesterday.
The INTO is now seeking an urgent meeting with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on the issue, but it denies it is "going over the Minister's head". Its general secretary, John Carr, said the class-size issue was now a national one requiring a national response.
Ms Hanafin, in her first round of teacher conferences, received a standing ovation from delegates on arrival in the conference hall. But her failure to make specific commitments on class size disappointed delegates. The Minister, a former secondary teacher, was also warmly received at the Asti and TUI conferences. Class sizes in the Republic are the second-highest in the EU and well above the EU average of 20 pupils.
Official statistics indicate an average class size of 24 pupils in the Republic, but the INTO maintains it is actually much higher when special provision for disadvantaged and special-needs pupils is included.
One Kildare delegate told the conference that he knew of no school with an average class of fewer than 27 pupils.
The INTO would like to see 800 new teachers recruited to help reduce class size for all pupils.
Ms Hanafin said she remained committed to reducing class size for all but her current focus would be on reducing it for less well off and special-needs children. She announced a new €40 million plan to combat disadvantage, which includes the appointment of 300 extra staff in disadvantaged schools, paid sabbaticals for teachers in these schools and the appointment of administrative or non-teaching principal teachers.
At the Asti conference, she also announced the appointment of 100 extra guidance counsellors, a move which has been warmly welcomed by Brian Mooney, president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors.
Meanwhile, TUI president Paddy Healy expressed concern at the perceived decline in teachers' pay and status. He said the gap between self-employed incomes and teachers' pay continued to widen, and that this was a disincentive to entering the profession.