Teachers give reasons why they are opposed to more students in a class

Primary School teachers the Sunday Times spoke to were united in their opposition to the move to increase the number of admissions to Grade 1, stating that it was highly unfair to both the students and their teachers.

A 55-year- old Kalutara teacher, who teaches Grade 3 students, said there were 40 students in her class. “I remember I once handled a class of 50 students. Teaching is not the issue. Any teacher can teach. But, these are little children who need much care and attention. That becomes increasingly difficult when the classes get larger.”

She also scoffed at the idea that teaching assistants would help lessen the burden on teachers. “I have heard officials say that we can give the assistant the books of the students to mark, but then, how can a teacher know which student is weak and needs more attention? How will we know about the progress the student is making if it’s someone else who marks their books?” she queried.

Another teacher from a leading school in Matugama lamented that all this was happening because the country did not have a proper education policy. “As such, each Government makes its own changes without thinking things through. It is the students and teachers who suffer as a result.”

The teacher, who teaches a Grade 4 class, said if Grade 1 admissions become 40 per classroom, the number of students will inevitably increase to between 45 and 50 once the class reaches Grade 4 in popular schools such as hers. “If you assume that your primary class had 40 students, that means you will have to look at 40 books. Let’s say there are five different lessons in a day. That’s 200 books you need to look and correct that day,” she noted.

She also pointed out that there were children with special needs who needed extra attention. “I had a special needs student in my class once. I had to give special attention to her as otherwise, she could hurt herself. But there were 38 other students in class at the time. It was extremely difficult to manage.”

A teacher who taught for years at a leading school in Galle before going on transfer to Baddegama said Governments did not take into account the disparity in resources when taking such decisions.

“When I was teaching at the school in Galle, the Grade 5 students I taught had good desks and chairs. In the school I’m teaching now, the Grade 5 students are using desks and chairs meant for Grade 1 students. The bigger made students have difficulty in sitting on them so we have managed to find a few medium sized chairs and desk and put them on the back row in class.

"We are a national school, but have had no English teacher for our primary section for the past two years. The school nearby has 16 English teachers but the ministry won’t send a teacher to us because it claims its records don’t indicate a teacher shortage for us. Yet, we are still a school that has 40 plus students in many primary classes. Imagine how it will be when those numbers are increased for Grade 1,” she remarked.