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PPTA vice president Kate Gainsford - Source: ONE News -
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The secondary teachers' union says suggestions there's no link between class sizes and learning outcomes don't make sense to parents, teachers or students.
The Government has a working group looking at class sizes, but argues there's no link between how many students are in a class and how well they do.
The Post Primary Teachers Association is part of the working group and has long pushed for fewer students in each classroom.
PPTA vice president Kate Gainsford told TV ONE's Breakfast there is "of course" a link between class sizes and learning outcomes, and research that is cited by those who say there isn't, is contested in New Zealand and internationally.
"And it doesn't intuitively make any sense to parents and to teachers and indeed to students themselves. So of course it needs further work," Gainsford said.
She said the Government is citing some research to back up its position that class size is not an issue, but what they are trying to do is not spend too much money.
"It is an expensive area of the budget. But we know that both parents and students as well as our members feel quite strongly that even in the current financial situation this should be a priority for spending."
'Get to the actual research'
The Ministry of Education will not define what a 'large' class size is in a secondary school, so the PPTA has "taken a lead" over a number of years and set some parameters around size, particularly to do with health and safety in workshops and laboratories for instance, Gainsford said.
Primary schools already have a reduced teacher-pupil ratio of one to 15 for new entrants and Year One, introduced by the previous Government, but their teachers' union, the NZEI, says it wants to see further improvements.
The NZEI wants to see the ratio of one to 29 for Years Four to Eight reduced over time to one to 20, and says for Years Two and Three the ratio should come down from one to 23, to one to 20.
Gainsford said the working group is the PPTA's preferred way of dealing with the issue because it wants a robust debate to get past the scenario of one side saying class size matters and the other saying it doesn't.
"It's very important to get past that and get to the actual research. And what we're finding is there hasn't been a lot of research collected in New Zealand about class size. In fact what we've also found is the ministry doesn't collect data itself."
No funding has been allocated for dealing with any outcome from the working group and a PPTA paper said they have great hope but little confidence in it.
However Gainsford says she is "a determined optimist in this process".
She said the PPTA is working in good faith with education officials on the issue and hopes the working group will make a report to the new secretary for education.
The report may or may not get to the minister of education but the decision rests with the minister on whether or not there is going to be an investment in class sizes in New Zealand, Gainsford said.
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Post new commentAverage Kiwi said on 2011-10-10 @ 11:26 NZDT: Report abusive post
Of course it does. If a Teacher has less pupils in their class he/she can pick up easier on those struggling and give them extra time, where in large class sizes they can easily be missed. As usual the failed National Gov't is making the general population suffer while it pays for the tax cuts to the rich. It is so simple, but so many are too thick to pick up on it. Maybe they were all in large class sizes too. :-)