by Michelle Wilkinson

Created on: May 28, 2010

It is evident that when teachers have a problem with overcrowding in the classroom it is children’s education that suffers. If teachers don’t have enough time to give to the individual needs of their students then there are bound to be students who simply slip through the cracks. Teachers have enough on their plates without chasing after truanting students and ensuring that they all do their homework, while maintaining discipline in an overcrowded classroom can be a real challenge. Indeed, disruptive students can end up disrupting everyone else’s education.

Ideally, classes would consist of fewer than fifteen students, as this would enable teachers to engage with each of their students and to tailor their lessons to meet the needs of everyone. Thus, they could give extra support to struggling students and set more challenging tasks for more advanced students. However, most teachers have to contend with significantly higher numbers than that. When teachers have thirty or forty students to look after, not everyone is going to get the attention they need.

There are bound to be ‘problem’ students who make life even more difficult for teachers, but if they truant or try to disrupt lessons teachers may simply have to send them out of the classroom or give them detention. They just don’t have time to invest in troubled students who may be acting out because of problems at home or for other reasons. However, teachers have to ensure enough of their students get good grades, which usually means that they end up teaching to the test, whether they want to or not.

When schools are given funding according to their exam performance it isn’t surprising that so much emphasis is placed on answering exam questions.  However, while this approach may get more students passing their exams, when classrooms are overcrowded and teachers can’t teach the lessons the way they’d like, this is going to have a damaging impact on morale. Overworked, underpaid teachers are likely to be stressed, which certainly isn’t going to benefit their students. Teachers not only work when they’re in the classroom; they also have to spend their own time marking essays, of which there are bound to be quite a few, as well as planning lessons.

Clearly, then, overcrowding in schools benefits no one. While it may foster an ethos of competition, there will always be naturally gifted students and students that struggle. Overcrowding simply makes it difficult to provide help for those who need it most.

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