Kildare Primary School Pupils See Largest Average Class Size In The Country

Monday, 2 September 2024 09:46

By Martin Osborne

Fewer than one in 10 pupils in schools in Kildare find themselves in classes of 20 or under.

Pupils in Kildare are still grappling with the challenges of class-size disparities, despite a decline in overall enrolments across the country.

While primary school class sizes have dropped to their lowest levels in two decades, Kildare has the largest average class size in Ireland, with 24 pupils per class. This stands in contrast to counties like Longford, where the average class size is just 20.9 pupils.

Fewer than one in 10 pupils in schools in Kildare find themselves in classes of 20 or under.

According to the Irish Independent, although there were 4,000 fewer pupils in primary schools last year, nearly 10% of students remain in overcrowded classes of 30 or more.

Counties such as Leitrim, Donegal, Sligo, and Monaghan also experience significant class-size issues.

However, new data from the Department of Education shows a positive trend, with 10,000 fewer pupils in overcrowded classes compared to the previous year.

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