Teacher Describes The Dire Situation In Their Overcrowded And Underfunded Classroom
5 November 2017, 14:44 | Updated: 5 November 2017, 15:02
Some of Sam's pupils have to sit in between the desks because there isn't enough space for them in the classroom.
Children across the country are being taught in classes with more than 100 pupils amid a growing crisis over school funding, according to official figures, released to The Sunday Times under freedom of information laws.
The biggest secondary school class had 181 pupils.
The figures, recorded by counting the number of children in each class on a specific day , show 10 classes of 70 or more pupils and 52 classes with over 50 students.
Maajid spoke to Sam, a teacher, about the deteriorating conditions in his classroom. He described how it was often necessary to buy classroom supplies out of his own pay packet and the insufficient desk-space for students.
Sam, who has been teaching for two years, said: "It is impossible to do a good quality lesson when you've got 35 plus pupils in one class.
"Classrooms are built for 30 children. I've had lessons with kid sitting in the middle of the aisles, on the edge of desks. On chairs but on someone else's desk. Three of them crammed into a small little area.
"It's not just a chronic underfunding issue that affects class sizes, as well, it's the resources we have. I've had to spend countless amounts of my own money as well on scissors, glue - things you would expect."
Watch the full conversation at the top of this page.
