The 1:40 teacher-student ratio affects the efficacy of teachers, hurts students and weakens the system.

Crowd control is no longer a term used in the context of events, protests and concerts. Unfortunately, it has reached classrooms too. One teacher for a class of 40 students has been routine for a long time and this pattern continues despite constant complaints from teachers.

This imbalance not only affects the teachers but also has an adverse effect on students’ education in many ways. Much research has been conducted on this issue globally and the conclusions have been in favour of the teachers.

The Department of School Education is responsible for strictly enforcing the Right to Education Act in respect of the number of children that can be admitted in one classroom. The Act prescribes a Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) of 30:1 at primary and 35:1 at higher classes in every school.

If we examine this ratio of one teacher to 40 students, we will observe that because teachers are usually consumed by the classroom activity of a large number of students, it is possible for them to overlook and recognise students who are struggling and facing difficulties. Here, no one is at fault and the students suffer. It’s true. The more the students in one room, the louder, chaotic and more distracting it becomes. Add to it lessons and schedules and other imperatives, individual teacher-student interaction and giving personal attention to each student become virtually impossible.

Now let’s look at the brighter side. What happens when the student-teacher ratio is healthy? By contrast, what are the results when a large number of students are assigned to one teacher?

In one of the most cited studies on class reduction size, conducted in Tennessee, USA in the 1980s, researchers compared Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) testing results between class sizes of 15 and class sizes of 22. They found that students in the smaller class were three months ahead of the students in the larger class in terms of learning.

Small class sizes work because they provide the educator an opportunity to offer students more personalised instruction, probably one of the biggest reasons why academic achievement scales up.

Another important aspect of smaller class size is students with learning disabilities. Sometimes, when educators are dealing with a large number of students, they may not be able to recognise students who are struggling with their learning and instead may take them to be students who are just not focused and dedicated towards their studies. A small class size ensures that proper attention and time are given to student and so teachers can recognise such problems quickly and take action.

Not only is it unjust for the students, it also puts educators in a state of never-ending stress. We all know that smaller class sizes are more beneficial to students and allow educators to be better at their job. Then why is no action taken?

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