Classrooms are becoming more and more overcrowded, and it’s beginning to cause issues with our children’s education.
Last year, a study reported that 50% of secondary schools are overpopulated.
The information was found by 100 councils across the UK, where 53% of schools were struggling to maintain their high number of students.
The Local Government Association warned parents that at least 125,000 children were at risk of losing their place at school by 2022, due to the growing figures.
And now it seems that the issue has only gotten worse.
ASTI recently revealed the effects learning in an overcrowded classroom can have on a child.
“We all talk about active learning, putting students in groups around a table, getting them to correct each other's homework, getting them to talk each other through a problem if one doesn't understand it and the other does. You can't do that when you have a classroom that's full,” said Moira Layden of the ASTI.
Students are lacking when it comes to active learning, which can be one of the best tools for memory retention in young children.
Parents want the best for their kids and are putting their foot down in response to the holes in the current education system.
According the Galway City Tribune, at Scoil Bhríde in Menlo, parents were outraged when told that their children would be in a class of 41 students taught by just one teacher.
On Thursday, after the school board’s failure to reach a resolution, the parents brought their kids home in protest of the classroom size. They felt their children would be overlooked and academically left behind.
Because of the teacher shortage schools are even asking guidance counselors to give up space to accomodate more.
At the Oireachtas Education Committee, an ASTI representative explained that these counselors and chaplains’ offices were being used for classroom space.
“When we talk about well-being and its priority in our curriculum, we need to look at the capacity of schools to actually give those supports."
The average classroom size is expected to continue to increase over the coming years, and it is clear that education committees need to find a solution soon.
