Classroom overcrowding causes stress and health issues for teachers – Ministry of Education
The strain caused by overcrowded classrooms has taken a serious toll on teaching staff, with reports that two teachers have suffered miscarriages partly attributed to workload and stress.
This revelation emerged after parents raised ongoing concerns about overcrowding at Marist Brothers Primary School, where some students are reportedly forced to sit on the floor due to insufficient seating.
In response to questions from fijivillage News, the Ministry of Education conducted an official investigation, visiting all 22 classrooms to assess individual year levels and evaluate classroom capacity.
The Ministry says its findings confirmed that several classrooms do not have enough seating to accommodate all enrolled students, with conditions deteriorating further in recent months.
They say the problem worsened in Term 2 when the absence of five teachers for various reasons led to class reshuffles and increased pressure on both teachers and classroom space.
In one instance, a teacher’s transfer to another school was not followed by a replacement, resulting in her students being redistributed among existing classes, further contributing to overcrowding.
The Ministry says to address these challenges, the Head of School has introduced a new enrolment policy this year limiting class sizes to 35 to 40 students.
They say in previous years, class sizes reached as high as 50 to 52 students, placing considerable strain on both teachers and school infrastructure.
The Ministry emphasised the urgent need to expand current facilities or build new classrooms to accommodate growing student numbers.
They add that while plans are underway to increase the school infrastructure budget, financial constraints and limited success in parental fundraising are restricting immediate improvements.