Hanafin defends Government record on class sizes
Minister for Education Mary Hanafin today accepted that more work needed to be done to reduce class sizes.
Dealing with rising pupil numbers must remain a priority in the next government, she told the country's largest teaching union at the annual Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) congress in Cork.
The minister told delegates that after prioritising special needs education, she wanted to turn her attention to cutting class numbers to a maximum of 24 pupils.
"The creation of more teaching posts is an absolutely essential part of helping all of our children to achieve more in education," she said.
"Teacher numbers are up and rightly so. But I believe we need to build on this further in the next few years."
The minister insisted her decision to target special needs and pupils from disadvantaged areas over the past few years was necessary.
"It wasn't the political thing to do," she said. "It wasn't the easy option. But it was the right choice.
"In prioritising special needs and disadvantage, I have, however, always said that once we had dramatically improved supports in those areas, our focus would turn to class size."
Ms Hanafin said Fianna Fáil, if returned to power, would aim to slash class sizes within the next three years.
Thousands of new teaching staff had been put in place since 2002 while support for special needs and the disadvantaged had dramatically improved, she insisted.
But she conceded the Government's spending on education was not enough as schools struggle to cope with costs.
"I know that our schools need more than this," she said. "And while I don't want to use this platform to make new party political announcements, I assure you that increasing school funding will be a priority."
The minister also vowed to significantly improve ICT (information and communication technology) facilities in schools and help teachers to improve the position of the Irish language.
"It is essential that your work is built on at second level, so that our young people can be well able to converse in Irish by the time they leave school," she said.
Population growth, diversity, inclusion and technological change are making the agenda of Irish primary education more challenging than ever, the minister said.
