3rd September 2014 6:00
By Blue Tutors
It has been revealed that there is a growing crisis in school places, after it emerged that hundreds of children in the UK are being taught in classes of more than 70 pupils. The problem has become apparent in primary schools as the number classes with more than 30 pupils has trebled to 93,665 over the last four years. A baby boom and rising immigration are thought to be behind the rising numbers. Analysis suggests that if figures continue to rise at the current rate, the number of pupils in large classes will rise to half a million by 2020.
Labour has obtained figured from the Department for Education which revealed that six primary schools have classes with just one teacher for 70 children, while many more have one teacher for 50 children. There are now 77 primary schools with over 800 pupils, a rising from 58 in just one year. The figures have caused alarm, with education experts warning that students’ learning will be severely hampered in large classes due to the lack of attention that each student can receive from their teacher. During their time in office, Labour made it illegal for primary schools to have classes of over 30 students, but the coalition government changed the rules to allow larger class sizes. One school in Stoke-on-Trent has 78 pupils to one teacher with many more schools running classes of over 70 students.
According to the department for education, the number of children in primary school has risen by 2.5 percent since last year, with current figures showing there are 4.4 million children currently in primary school. The rise in numbers is contributing to a severe shortage in places, with many children missing out on their first choice school, and hundreds more not getting a place at all and having to wait until the next year. Labour have made renewed criticism of the government’s free school policy, saying that schools should be built in areas where there is a shortage of places, rather than in areas where there is no need. Shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt warned that the free schools project has cost a huge amount that could have been spent on creating more places for children in areas where there is greatest need.