New push for smaller class sizes in Australia
Education experts want action on Aussie class sizes, with global data showing our primary schools are bursting as our top ten worst resourced schools were revealed. SEE HOW YOUR STATE COMPARES
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Australian primary schools are bursting at the seams with class sizes 14 per cent bigger than the international benchmark set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Additionally, a third of schools are not meeting global standards when it comes to student-teacher ratio.
The figures come after this week’s release of the OECD’s 2019 Education At A Glance report, which found Aussie primary schools, public and private, have an average of 24 pupils in a class — three students above the OECD average of 21.
Historical figures from the OECD show Australian class sizes have not improved in the past 14 years.
Recent NAPLAN results also showed pupils are worse off than they were a decade ago — and experts are calling for urgent change if Australia is to compete with the rest of the world.
Southern Cross University Adjunct Associate Professor David Zyngier said an overall maximum class size was needed.
“That means for example that kindergarten classes should be set at a maximum of 20, but in disadvantaged communities it might be more appropriate to set this at 15 or less,” he said.
“Secondary classes should be a maximum of 25 with the same provisions.”
Australian Education Union Federal President Correna Haythorpe said class size failings came down to chronic underfunding.
“Principals and teachers have raised the issue of smaller classes being critically important for students and their learning — this is particularly important in primary schools,” she said.
“The larger class sizes and higher student-teacher ratios we are seeing now are the result of chronic underfunding across the entire public system.
“The continued determination of the Morrison Government to underfund and cap expenditure on public schools will only ensure that Australia falls further down the OECD rankings.”
A special investigation by News Corp has revealed some 2560 Australian schools have a student to teacher ratio of more than 16, while 120 of them have a ratio of 20 or above.
The OECD average ratio is 15 — and the highest in the country was 30 pupils to one teacher in Feluga State School, north of Tully in Queensland.
The student-teacher ratio reflects the number of teachers and pupils in a school, but because it includes non-teaching staff like principals and deputy principals does not directly correlate to class size.
• FROM MONDAY 16 SEPTEMBER: Full data on student-teacher ratios at the schools near you
Each state and territory sets its own standards when it comes to class sizes. NSW aims for an average of 20 in a public school class for kindergarten, year 1 and year 2, while in the ACT there is a maximum of 21 in the first three years of schooling. Queensland has targets of no more than 25, while the NT has a set limit of 27.
National Chair of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia Mark Merry said class sizes should be lowered across the country’s younger primary years.
“Our class sizes here are around 16 or 17 in the junior years,” the principal of Yarra Valley Grammar in Victoria said.
“With the littlest of ones, one consideration is the safety factor — so when dealing with young children, if you have a very big class, it’s harder to supervise and like herding cats.
“I think secondly there is a pretty heavy parental expectation … so if you are putting together a class in a junior school and it’s nudging up over 20, you’re going to get questions from parents.
“Lowering those class averages for little ones … means greater resources for teachers, but again it’s going to come back to the big issue in education in Australia — and that is teacher recruitment and teacher quality, and that remains a big problem.”
In a report dispelling myths about schooling, OECD Director for Education and Skills, Andreas Schleicher, said reductions in class size had driven up expenditure per student in most countries over the last decade.
“And yet, PISA results show no relationship between class size and learning outcomes, neither within nor between countries,” he wrote.
“More interestingly, the highest performing education systems in PISA tend to systematically prioritise the quality of teachers over the size of classes.
A Federal Department of Education spokesman said as the Australian Government did not operate any schools, State and territory governments, were responsible for decisions on class sizes.
“The Government is providing a record $310.3 billion in recurrent funding over 2018 to 2029 under the Quality Schools package, increasing from $18.7 billion in 2018 to $25.9 billion in 2023 and $32.4 billion in 2029,” he said.
“This is an increase for all schools across all sectors of an average of 62 per cent per student.”
The new figures show that Queensland government school Feluga State School has student-teacher ratio of 30.71 to one, while independent Charlotte Mason College, in Kallangur, Queensland, has a 2018 ratio of 29.72.
Holy Spirit School in Western Australia has a ratio of 28 to one, and St Joseph’s Primary School in East Maitland, NSW, has a ratio of 23 to one.
Sydney mother Sophia Hill chose Willoughby Public School for her children Max, 9, Daisy, 7, Gretel, 5 and Freddie, 19 months, specifically for the school’s small class sizes.
Ms Hill said Max had 22 pupils in his kindergarten class, while Daisy had 24.
“Now having experienced it, I would definitely think twice about sending my child to a kindy class that had more than 24 kids — and I can’t imagine one person managing more than 24 kids at one time either,” she said.
“Having more attention from teachers in the ratio perspective is important — and I liked the fact they have more resources in terms of assistant teachers so if kids are struggling they can pull in extra teachers to help, and pick up issues really quickly.
“Small classes make a huge difference.”
The country’s top 10 worst resourced schools: Teacher-Pupil Ratio
Feluga State School, QLD — 30.71 (43 pupils)
Charlotte Mason College, QLD — 29.72 (214 pupils)
Amanbidji School, NT — 28.3 (25.5 pupils)
Holy Spirit School, WA — 28.16 (169 pupils)
Specialised Assistance School, SA — 26.8 (134 pupils)
Mapuru Yirralka College, NT — 25.9 (57 pupils)
Toogoolawa School, QLD — 24 (96 pupils)
St Joseph’s Primary School, Maitland, NSW — 23.5 (416 pupils)
Comet Care School (Clarkson), WA — 23.28 (163 pupils)
St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Orange, NSW — 23.2 (383 pupils)
Class sizes around the country (Maximum allowed unless stated)
NSW
Public
Kindy to Year 2 — 20 (average)
Years 3-6 — 30
Catholic
K-6 — 32
VIC
Prep to Year 2 — 21
Year 3-6 — 21
ACT
K-Year 3 — 21
Years 3-6 — 30
Catholic
K-Year 3 — 30 (where over 25 additional support required)
Years 3-6 — 34 (over 30, additional support required)
SA
Public
R-2 — 26
Years 3-7 — 30
WA
Kindy — 20
Years 1-3 — 24
Years 4-6 — 32
Catholic
K-3 — 30
4-6 — 32
QLD
Public (target)
Prep to Year 3 — 25
Year 4-10 — 28
Catholic
Years P — 3 — 25-28
Year 4 — 10 — 28-30
NT
K-6 — 27
Originally published as New push for smaller class sizes in Australia
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