INTO conference: The INTO is seeking a meeting with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern as it steps up its campaign to secure smaller classes for all primary school children. Seán Flynn reports.
The union is taking this initiative after expressing disappointment with Minister for Education Mary Hanafin at yesterday's conference.
For the past year, the national school teachers have billed reductions in class size as their priority issue. Class sizes in the Republic are much larger than the EU average of 20; 100,000 primary school children - 25 per cent - are in classes of over 30 pupils.
The teachers are seeking an average class size of 25 in all schools. Ms Hanafin said yesterday her priority would be to reduce class size for disadvantaged and special needs pupils. But the union would like her to go further and commit herself to smaller classes for all pupils.
The Programme for Government promised an average class size of 20 pupils or less for all under-nines by 2007. Ms Hanafin insisted yesterday the Government was still fully committed to this goal, but the INTO is sceptical about this.
Ms Catherine Byrne, deputy general secretary, said the union was seeking a multi-annual approach so that reductions in class size could be achieved on an incremental basis, year on year. "Unfortunately, it seems we have more work to do to convince our policy-makers and politicians."
Ms Nora Hamill, Dublin north-east, said only Britain had higher average class sizes than the Republic. Despite a 6 per cent growth in the economy, "nothing has been done to achieve the goal" of smaller classes.
Mr Brendan O'Guill, central executive, said there was not a class within a 10-mile radius of his school which had the supposed average of 24 pupils. The class average in north Kildare, he said, was over 27 pupils.