Thirty plus class makes a comeback
The number of very large classes is increasing again in primary education. On October 5,4, last year, 1 percent of the classes consisted of more than 30 students. That is considerably more than the 2 percent in 2019. The average group size also increased slightly.
Picture: Nina Maissouradze
This is evident from figures that outgoing education minister Arie Slob has shared with the House of Representatives. Education implementing agency DUO conducted a sample of 4964 groups of more than 500 hundred schools.
dividing wall
In his letter reports the minister that the decline in the number of megaclasses has stopped. Between 2016 and 2019, the number of classes over thirty fell from 7 to 2 percent. It has been on the rise again this year. They can also talk about this in Lelystad. In the latest Education magazine, director Roelie Renzema of primary school De Boeier says that due to a shortage of teachers, she was forced to merge two groups of eight this year. This means that there are 51 eighth graders in one class this year and that a partition wall was literally broken. Renzema received only one response to a vacancy.
The decline in the number of mega classes has stopped
Group size
The average group size also increased slightly, the minister reports. In 2020, there were an average of 22,9 students in one class. In 2019 that was still 22,6. 'The average group size in primary education has increased for the first time in four years', according to DUO. Smaller schools with a maximum of one hundred students in particular noticed that the groups were getting bigger, Slob reports. In 2019, for example, there were on average 19 students in a class at these schools. Last year there were 19,6.
Pupils who prefer a smaller group can best live in the Northern Netherlands. The groups there are on average 1,8 pupils smaller than in the rest of the country. The classes grew mainly in the south of the Netherlands and in the west.
Students with a preference for a smaller group can best live in the Northern Netherlands
The pupil-teacher ratio, the number that shows how many pupils one full-time teacher teaches, remained the same in 2020 as in 2019. This applies to all sectors within primary education, such as VSO and SBAo.
Slob states in his letter that as far as he is concerned there is 'no ideal group size'. He refers to the oops who are appointed in primary education. These have a positive effect on the quality of education, but do not result in a smaller class. from research of SEO Economic Research on behalf of the AOb turned out that class size does matter. Smaller classes lead to better school performance, was the conclusion.
Smaller classes deliver better school performance on researched SEO Economic Research
Secret
The Education Magazine examined in May this year the secret of group sizes. The numbers are often discussed. The research showed that the student-teacher ratio mainly says something about the size of the team, but not much about the group sizes. Gym teachers or ambulant supervisors are also included in these numbers and do not have their own group. There is also nowhere to find an overview of the group sizes per school. Inquiries with DUO then revealed that the schools do register grades accurately, but that this still leaves something to be desired when it comes to the group designation. That doesn't make the data good enough to put it online right away. The figures must therefore be checked, telephoned and corrected.
Also read: 'Small class creates space for teacher and student'
