Crammed classrooms concern Teachers’ Union

Mar 19, 2014 News

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A call has been made by the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) for urgent moves to be made to address recurring situations of large class sizes in the public school system.
According to General Secretary of the union, Coretta McDonald, the issue has for some time attracted the attention of the GTU, with much discussion being held between the body and the Ministry of Education.

“As it is right now, we are going to have some sort of change to this class size issue, because having done surveys we recognised that large classes are going to create a negative impact in terms of the way in which we deliver in our classrooms.”
McDonald pointed out that addressing class sizes is especially crucial since children enter the school system at different levels of understanding.
“When you have to work with children coming from, let’s say three different levels – those who are ready, those who are part ready and those who are not ready – having a class of 45, you can imagine how difficult it would be to deal with those children.”
McDonald underscored that while some children will be able to get more attention, there are others who will get little or perhaps none at all. She made reference to the class levels at which pupils are assessed nationally emphasising that “as a teacher you would always want to have your scores at a certain level, so the children who can work, you are going to push them; those who can hardly do anything, of course you would find some work for them to do but you, as a teacher, would want to maintain your pass grades, and so you are not going to
allow 10 children to keep 25 children back”.
And this is the norm that obtains in many schools, McDonald asserted.
Although this existing state of affairs is one that can ultimately affect the teaching/learning process, the General Secretary, noted that teachers are often more focused on performance rather than individual attention, since performance in the long run can have an impact on the teacher when he/she is being appraised.
“The thing is, teachers don’t want to have Cs and barely Bs and that kind of thing when they are having their appraisals done, because that has implications for your promotion…So teachers are not going to allow this kind of thing to happen to keep them back,” McDonald said.
According to her, the GTU has over the years been furnished with reports of classes in the public school system having in excess of 55 children at both primary and secondary levels. She however noted that while the situation at the secondary level could be somewhat easily addressed as students usually have periods with different subject teachers, the situation at the primary level could in fact prove to be an even greater challenge.
“In the primary school where you have three Grade One classes, if one teacher is absent then the two other teachers would have to share the classes; if it is the Grade Three or Grade Four classes where you have 30 or 35 in a class and your parallel teacher is absent, then you have to double up the classes, because you can’t leave the children alone,” McDonald emphasised.
She noted that although there are ideal numbers that classes should have at various levels, the GTU has become aware that the situation is one that is created, at times, by the schools themselves. This state of affairs, the General Secretary added, is linked to the fact that schools are graded – A, B, C, D or E – which is based on the number of children registered.
“In order for me to maintain my ‘A’ Grade school, I have to ensure that my numbers are at a certain level…and then some children come to some schools, particularly primary, with letters from the Education Department, and of course, head teachers can’t refuse a child whose parent brings them with a document from the Department.”
This has therefore resulted in some schools that were constructed to accommodate 500 children being saddled with in excess of 600.
“So this is how we have the issues of teachers fighting for space, classes that are crammed; instead of having a Grade Four class with 35 you have four Grade Fours with different numbers, with some being very overcrowded,” McDonald stated.
Moreover, she said that the GTU is poised to continue discussions with the Education Ministry to highlight the negatives of having teachers deal with large class sizes with a view of discouraging the situation.
“Our partners (at the Education Ministry) have seen the wisdom in that and I understand they are going to be quickly addressing that…I think for the new school year that is going to be addressed,” the General Secretary optimistically concluded.

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