CLASS SIZES

29 April 2008

Commenting on the latest Government figures on class sizes, Christine Blower, Acting General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Europe’s largest teaching union said:

“Class size matters. The government needs to recognise this and redouble its efforts to get class sizes down to the legal maximum for KS 1 throughout the primary phase. This will mean more teachers in primary schools not fewer.

“The Government needs to set itself an ambitious target of a maximum of 20 pupils per teacher by 2020

“The latest class size figures contain a hidden message. In many areas falling pupil roles are becoming a thing of the past. They were a temporary blip.

“Any local authority contemplating primary school closures because of falling roles would be fundamentally mistaken. Such closures would lead to the unnecessary removal of a vital community resource”.