Latest news with #classsize
CBC
a day ago
- Politics
- CBC
Ontario teachers' union demands smaller class sizes
The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario is launching a new campaign aimed at making classes smaller. CBC's Tyler Cheese explains why.
South China Morning Post
12-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Numbers have to add up when deciding on closure of Hong Kong schools
Hong Kong's dwindling school-age population and low birth rate continue to put the education sector to the test. This is reflected in a growing number of schools losing government subsidies and having to be merged or axed because of insufficient enrolment. Given the trend is unlikely to turn around any time soon, more institutions may well shut in the coming years. Therefore, authorities should work with stakeholders to ensure a soft landing for the schools and students affected. Critics fear the new class-size regulations may well accelerate the demise of some disadvantaged schools. The Education Bureau has also raised the minimum number of students required to operate a class and scrapped alternative options that may give struggling schools a reprieve. As a result, the pupil threshold for a secondary school operating a Form One class will be raised from 25 to 27 starting in September. The requirement will be further tightened to 29 in 2026-27. Currently, secondary schools need to have at least two Form One classes, or a total of 26 students, to continue operating. With the changes, a school will have to enrol at least 28 students to run two classes to survive the coming academic year, and 30 pupils in 2026-27. Class sizes will also be subject to closer monitoring. Instead of a so-called annual headcount to ascertain numbers for Form One and Form Four every September, the exercise will be conducted in two other junior grades from September 2027-28, when the minimum two-class requirement for Form One will be extended to Form Two and Form Three. With the number of 12-year-olds estimated to drop from 58,800 this year to 49,800 in 2031, the challenges facing schools are unavoidable. The Education Bureau said the new rules aimed to offer quality education and address the needs of parents. But the shrinking population and higher threshold are also bound to make enrolment more difficult for some schools, especially those that are already struggling. Schools already on the brink of closure or merger may be excused for feeling dismayed and perplexed as to why the authorities are seemingly making it more difficult for them to survive. There are also concerns that popular schools will be able to enrol additional students and run extra classes, while even more schools for those not so good academically will be axed or merged at a quicker pace.
South China Morning Post
03-06-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong principals slam popular schools' class expansion without consultation
Principals in Hong Kong have criticised education authorities for failing to consult the sector regarding a new measure that permits popular schools to apply to operate an additional Form One class in the next academic year, raising concerns that the move will intensify competition among institutions. The Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools also questioned the timeliness and necessity of implementing the policy change amid the city's declining student population. The Education Bureau briefed representatives from secondary schools at a meeting on May 20 about new class-size regulations, which are expected to jeopardise the survival of disadvantaged schools. The new regulations have increased the minimum number of students required for operating a class, while also permitting schools with four Form One classes to apply to run an additional class in the coming academic year. A maximum of five school applications will be approved. 'There is no consultation at all with such an important policy change,' Lin Chun-pong, chairman of the Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools, told the Post last Thursday.
CBC
08-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Alberta teachers reject mediator's recommendation, consider strike vote
Social Sharing Teachers in Alberta's public, Catholic and Francophone schools have rejected a mediator's proposal that would have given them an average wage increase of 15 per cent over four years. The offer didn't go far enough to address teachers' concerns about crowded classrooms, packed with a growing numbers of students who have complex and differing needs, said Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA) president Jason Schilling. "Teachers are feeling burned out and frustrated, and they wanted to see more," Schilling told CBC News Wednesday. Of the nearly 36,000 teachers who voted earlier this week, about 62 per cent rebuffed the recommendation, according to the association. The ATA, which has 51,000 members, had recommended members approve the offer. Schilling says including class-size caps in the agreement was part of the ATA's initial proposal to the government. B.C., Quebec, and Ontario are legally obligated to account for class sizes and complexity in teachers' pay. Earlier this year, an arbitrator ruled the next contract for Saskatchewan teachers must account for the number of students with additional needs in their classrooms. The mediator proposed assembling working groups to discuss how schools can tackle an influx of students to the province, as well as growing numbers of English language learners and students diagnosed with a disability or medical condition. Alberta teachers don't want more talking, Schilling said. They want adequate funding for schools, including more teachers and support workers. Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides is disappointed that the teachers rejected the offer, he told reporters at the legislature Wednesday. "We await to hear from teachers about what more it is that they're looking for and [to] see how we can work with them to get a deal done," Nicolaides said. The deal included $400 million to improve classroom conditions, he added. The provincial government has also committed $8.6 billion to the School Construction Accelerator Program, a plan to build 90 new schools across Alberta in the next seven years to help alleviate a space shortage. "I'm confident that we're moving in the right direction," Nicolaides said. Teachers discussing strike authorization vote ATA members are now in a 14-day cooling off period, after which they can vote to apply to the Alberta Labour Relations Board to authorize a strike vote. If that passes, the association says teachers will take a strike vote. Should they vote in favour of a strike, teachers have 120 days in which to take job action. That could involve options such as working to rule, cancelling extracurricular activities, rotating strikes or a walkout. Alberta teachers last walked off the job in 2002. School underfunding and class sizes were flash points in the dispute. During news conference Tuesday, Schilling said it is "very possible" teachers will take job action, but he could not predict when. The threat of disruption comes after a winter of school support worker strikes involving thousands of employees in Edmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray, and other school divisions. Nicolaides said he hopes the parties can avoid a strike. But he added that the education ministry is planning for that possibility — including the spectre of a teacher walkout when students are scheduled to write provincial standardized exams. Opposition NDP education critic Amanda Chapman was not surprised that teachers dismissed the mediator's recommendation, she told reporters Wednesday. Chapman said teachers have received about a five-per cent salary increase in the last decade, while the cost of living has ballooned. The recommendation also didn't go far enough to address classroom complexity, which many teachers say is a bigger concern than their pay, she said. "Teachers are really not working under conditions that are conducive either for themselves as teaching professionals and for the kids in the classroom," Chapman said.
