Ministry of Education class size reports are out.

(with thanks to the BCTF for the source of this article)

Administrative overview: 17% of classes have 4 ort more chldren with Special needs in them (12,000 classes). Last year there were "only" 11,000 classes with 4 or more, and the year before? 10,000 classes. You can make your own judgment over these numbers.

Click here for the report.

2009-10 CLASS SIZE REPORT (excerpts)

VICTORIA – The fifth annual report on class size and composition.... When the first class size report was released in 2005-06, there were 9,253 classes with more than 30 students. Today, that number has decreased by more than 65 per cent to 3,229.
.... For the fourth consecutive year, more than 95 per cent of classes in school districts throughout B.C. have 30 or fewer students and 99 per cent of classes have 32 or fewer students.
Other findings from the 2009-10 class size report include:
· There are 67,473 classes in B.C. public schools this year.
· As a result of 3,350 fewer students this year, there are 884 fewer classes.
· B.C. now has one of the lowest student-teacher ratios ever – 16.7 students per teacher.
· There are 541,917 FTE students in provincial public schools.
· 18 school districts had reductions in their average Grade 8-12 class size over last year.
· There are no Kindergarten classes with more than 22 students and no classes from grades 1-3 with more than 24 students.
· There are 62 more education assistants this year, bringing the total to 8,877 – up by 1,221 or almost 16 per cent since 2005-06.
· There are 16,630 classes with assigned education assistants – an increase of 279 over last year.
· 17 per cent, or 11,959 classes have four or more students entitled to an Individual Education Program.

..... The act also requires the school principal to confirm the learning situation is appropriate for all students.
....
The class size report is available online: click here