New figures reveal a staggering 354% rise in the number of Dorset school children being taught in classes of over 30 children.
Commenting on figures that show that children in classes of 30 or more in Dorset have increased more than threefold since the General Election, Simon Bowkett, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for South Dorset, said:
“Labour put reducing class sizes at the top of our agenda in government. It is staggering that all that good work has been undermined by this government in four short years, despite David Cameron’s promises heading into the election.
“The Government is failing our young people by cutting funding, removing the regulations that prevented over-crowding in our classrooms and allowing unqualified teachers to teach our children.
Here in Dorset the number of children now taught in classes of 30 children or more has grown by 354% – one of the sharpest rises in the south west.
“We need the Government to provide the funding and regulations that enable teachers to teach to the best of their ability, and children to receive the best care and attention they deserve. All four of my children attend local state schools, and I know that other local parents will want to know their children are being taught by a qualified teacher in reasonable class sizes. What these new figures reveal is that the job of teachers in Dorset is being made harder and harder as class sizes increase.
“Teachers and teaching assistants in our local schools do an amazing job. We need Michael Gove and David Cameron to get a grip of rising class sizes and to do so fast, before a whole new generation of Dorset’s children suffer because of over-crowded classrooms that the Government should, and could, prevent.”
1. Sources: DfE, Schools, pupils and their characteristics:
2. Cameron breaks his promises on smaller class sizes – https://press.labour.org.uk/post/88560376509/cameron-breaks-his-promise-on-smaller-class-sizes-as
