29th January 2020 15:12
By Blue Tutors
The Welsh government have planned to cut class sizes for year 1 and year 2, but this policy has been questioned by one of their education advisors. Reported on the BBC, Prof David Reynolds claims that the proposal overlooks recent studies which show that class sizes for this age group are not the most important factor for improving their education.
Reynolds says that improving the skills and professional development of existing teachers is a much more effective way of improving a school’s performance, and the £100m increase in funding promised by Labour’s manifesto should be spent on developing teacher’s skills, rather than employing more teachers to reduce class sizes.
The plan to reduce class sizes will cost £42m over the term of the Welsh Assembly, which, Jenny Rathbone, a minister for Cardiff Central, said will “soak up” a lot of the extra funding. However, Labour appear committed to the policy, saying that any students in classes of more than 25 pupils are not getting the best start in life. Recent government data shows that 7.3% of infant students are in classes containing 30 or more.
The Sutton Trust and the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development have both previously questioned the value of reducing class sizes, stating that the figure is unrelated to a school’s performance and that it is one of the least effective ways to improve. The feeling within Labour’s own party is that reduced class sizes sounds good but has little impact, but a spokesperson for the Welsh government thinks it is important to reduce teachers’ workload.