asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the total number of schoolchildren in Northern Ireland as (a) primary schools, voluntary and maintained, (b) secondary schools including grammar, voluntary and maintained; what is the number of teachers in each category; and what is the average size of class in each category.

[pursuant to his reply, 12 November 1979, c. 479]: Provisional figures for pupils and teachers at January 1979 are as follows:

	Pupils	Teachers (Full-time equivalents)
Primary Schools
Controlled	105,844	4,447
Voluntary/Voluntary Maintained	95,022	4,038
Secondary Schools
Controlled	69,585	4,487
Voluntary/Voluntary Maintained	94,152	6,013

Information on the average size of classes is not yet available for January 1979, but figures for January 1978 are as follows:

	Pupils
Primary Schools
Controlled	27·0
Voluntary/Voluntary Maintained	27·1
Secondary Schools
Controlled	20·2
Voluntary/Voluntary Maintained	21·4

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total number of children entering primary school in each of the last five years in Northern Ireland.

[pursuant to his reply, 12 November 1979, c. 479]: The number of children enrolled in primary 1 classes in January of each of the last five years was as follows:

	000's
1975	30·2
1976	30·4
1977	28·8
1978	28·7
1979 (provisional)	27·6

These figures exclude enrolment in nursery classes or reception classes. Comparable figures for preparatory departments of grammar schools are not readily available.