Paul Murphy: St Mary's faces teacher loss, urges class-size cuts
Paul Murphy warned that education is crucial to competitiveness and said many schools face a crisis as teachers are lost. He urged the Government to reduce class sizes, citing St Mary's Boys National School in North Farnham and Budget hiring figures.
St Mary's Boys National School in North Farnham is at risk of losing another teacher next year after losing one in September. The school is reportedly four pupils short of retaining its 16 class teachers and a parent warned a child could be placed in a larger, multi-grade class without intervention.
Paul Murphy noted the Budget commitment to hire 1,042 teachers but pointed out this does not cover the 1,046 teachers who will be retiring, meaning the pupil-teacher ratio will not fall. He contrasted that with the hospitality VAT, saying its revenue would be the equivalent of hiring 7,800 teachers to illustrate perceived government priorities.
He directly asked whether the Government would commit to reducing class sizes to address the problem and protect classroom quality. The appeal framed the issue as central to competitiveness and to the quality of children's education in affected schools.
Deputy E. Mark Kirk responded by outlining existing routes such as appealing for developing school status to retain teachers, and by saying the pupil-teacher ratio has been significantly reduced over recent years. He also suggested that how principals deploy teachers can affect staffing outcomes and noted ongoing investment in education.
Local school example
St Mary's Boys National School in North Farnham is at risk of losing another teacher next year after losing one in September. The school is reportedly four pupils short of retaining its 16 class teachers and a parent warned a child could be placed in a larger, multi-grade class without intervention.
Budget and teacher numbers
Paul Murphy noted the Budget commitment to hire 1,042 teachers but pointed out this does not cover the 1,046 teachers who will be retiring, meaning the pupil-teacher ratio will not fall. He contrasted that with the hospitality VAT, saying its revenue would be the equivalent of hiring 7,800 teachers to illustrate perceived government priorities.
Question to Government
He directly asked whether the Government would commit to reducing class sizes to address the problem and protect classroom quality. The appeal framed the issue as central to competitiveness and to the quality of children's education in affected schools.
Official response in the debate
Deputy E. Mark Kirk responded by outlining existing routes such as appealing for developing school status to retain teachers, and by saying the pupil-teacher ratio has been significantly reduced over recent years. He also suggested that how principals deploy teachers can affect staffing outcomes and noted ongoing investment in education.
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Transcript
Education is crucial to competitiveness. We won't have competitiveness without teachers. And yet many schools are in a crisis situation. I'll give you one example from my constituency. St Mary's Boys National School in North Farnham is set to lose a teacher again next year, having lost one in September, unless the Government commits to reducing class sizes. I've been contacted by many parents, one of whom wrote to say my son is already in a class that exceeds the national average. Without intervention, he may soon be placed in an even larger, multi-grade class, which would significantly impact the quality of his education. The school is currently just four pupils short of retaining its 16 class teachers. In the Budget, it was announced that 1,042 teachers would be hired. That doesn't cover the 1,046 teachers who will be retiring, so it won't be reducing the pupil-teacher ratio. The hospitality VAT costs the equivalent of hiring 7,800 teachers, illustrating where this Government's priorities lies. Will you commit to reducing class sizes? Deputy E. Mark Kirk. Deputy Paul Murphy on terms of education. You mentioned a specific area. If it's four pupils short, you know you can make the developing school status appeal, or you can appeal on the basis of developing school status to retain a teacher. That system is there for a long, long time in terms of retaining teachers. But over the last number of years, we have significantly reduced the pupil-teacher ratio. And sometimes, I'm not saying in this case, but sometimes it depends on how a principal or the management of a school will deploy teachers. And they may have other priorities, and they may do it in a different way. So that does happen also. But in this case, you're saying it's down a teacher due to lose again next year. I don't know, is that because of population demographics in the area or not? But, you know, we're investing a lot in education over the last number of years, and we'll continue to do that. Thank you very much. Thank you.