Had to let a bit of steam off on this one!
Got a letter from my daughter's school today. Her class of 25 pupils is being split up in September because of the change in pupil:teacher ratio from 27:1 to 28:1.
5 pupils get moved from her class into another 1st class (with 27 kids already), another 5 go into the second 1st class and the remaining 15 will be in a split class with 13 senior infants.
Either way friends will be split up and my daughter ends up in a class of 32 or else is in a split class with one teacher & with kids a year younger than her.
So increasing the pupil:teacher ratio by 1 ends up meaning splitting classes and 32 pupil class-rooms. Even back in the late seventies and early eighties when I was in primary school things weren't that bad!
I'm fully aware that cutbacks will have to be made as the country is spending €70 million more a day than is coming in, but why does it always have to affect the front line of education and health?
I'm also frustrated by the fact that I'm paying a lot more in taxes to end up with inferior standards in education!
Got a letter from my daughter's school today. Her class of 25 pupils is being split up in September because of the change in pupil:teacher ratio from 27:1 to 28:1.
5 pupils get moved from her class into another 1st class (with 27 kids already), another 5 go into the second 1st class and the remaining 15 will be in a split class with 13 senior infants.
Either way friends will be split up and my daughter ends up in a class of 32 or else is in a split class with one teacher & with kids a year younger than her.
So increasing the pupil:teacher ratio by 1 ends up meaning splitting classes and 32 pupil class-rooms. Even back in the late seventies and early eighties when I was in primary school things weren't that bad!
I'm fully aware that cutbacks will have to be made as the country is spending €70 million more a day than is coming in, but why does it always have to affect the front line of education and health?
I'm also frustrated by the fact that I'm paying a lot more in taxes to end up with inferior standards in education!