Re p ub lic o f the Philip p ine s

BOHOLISLAND STATEUNIVERSITY
C a nd ija y C a m p us
C o g tong , C a nd ija y, Boho l

COLLEGE OF ADVANCED STUDIES

Subject Code: EDMA 517
Course Title: CURRENT ISSUES & PROBLEMS IN
EDUCATION

Class Size Problem

CARMEN A. MUTIA WILFREDA O. FLOR PhD
Masterand Professor
 What is Class Size?
Class size refers to the number of students in each course or
classroom, specifically either (1) the number of students being taught
by individual teachers in a course or classroom or (2) the average
number of students being taught by teachers in a school, district, or
education system. The term may also extend to the number of
students participating in learning experiences that may not take
place in a traditional classroom setting, or it may also refer to the
total number of students in a particular grade level or “class” in a
school
What are the class sizes in the Philippines?
Class sizes shall range from a
minimum of 15 pupils/students to a
maximum of 65 pupils/students per
class.
HOUSE BILL No. 473
-AN ACT
REGULATING CLASS SIZE IN ALL PUBLIC
SCHOOLS AND APPOINTING FUNDS
THEREFOR

This Act shall be known as “The Public

School Class Size Law of 2016”
One of the most deplorable consequences of the
government policy of prioritizing debt payments is the
reduction in public spending on education. Because of
the so-called debt burden, which takes up around 30%
of the national budget annually for the past two
decades, our public schools have been receiving a
declining share in government spending. This has led
to a worsening shortage of teachers and classrooms.
In order to accommodate a growing school-age population,
the Department of Education has coped with these
shortages by allowing extremely large class sizes. In the
urban centers, it is no longer uncommon to see teachers
handling classes with 60 to 80 students. According to data
from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics,
classrooms in the Philippines are among the most crowded
in Asia.
Oversized classes also violate the right of teachers to
just compensation and humane working conditions. In
the current system, a teacher handling a class of 70
students is in fact taking on the workload of two
teachers, but without receiving any additional
compensation. This practice of assigning oversized
classes to teachers without extra pay is one of the main
mechanisms by which they are “overworked, yet
underpaid.”
This bill seeks to address these concerns by
mandating the regulation of class size in public
schools and prescribing additional compensation
for teachers handling large classes.

This bill was approved by the Committee on

Basic Education during the 16th Congress.
How many students are allowed in a
classroom in the Philippines?
-The number of students for each class to be
handled by a single teacher shall be set by the
Department of Education (DepEd), in consultation
with the Department of Health (DOH). For
purposes of this Act, any class with not more than
35 students shall be considered a standard class.
 How many students are in a regular
classroom?
-Ideally, smaller class size is always preferable. In a
typical classroom, the number of students ranges from
15 to 22 with one general education teacher. In a
special education classroom where students receive
specialized instruction in a small group setting, class
sizes typically range from 3 to 10 students.
What is the effect of class size on student
learning?
-Smaller class sizes result in higher achievement
among students who are economically
disadvantaged.Smaller class sizes result in students
with lower academic ability doing better. Class size
might affect student attitudes more significantly
than it affects achievement.
What is the effect of class size in effective
teaching and learning?

-The smaller the class, the greater the likelihood

that a teacher will spend more time with individual
pupils. Large classes present more challenges for
classroom management, pupil control, marking,
planning, and assessment. Teachers are put under
more strain when faced with large classes.
 What is the disadvantage of
class size?
-A smaller class size creates a more personal
atmosphere, while the cause, a larger class
size, has many effects on the education of a
student. That student won't feel as much of a
connection to the teacher and will have more
distractions, and feel like they are not
important.
What is the effect of class size on student
academic performance?

-In examining the negative effects of class size,

findings indicated that big or small class size has
an impact on students’ performance and students
do not perform well in big classes as it caused
resources to be inadequate, lowers student
performance, and ineffective classroom
instructions.
 Class Sizes: Small vs Big
-A big class-size school may have a class filled with as
many as 30 students. A small class-size school puts
greater emphasis on smaller class sizes of around 20 and
often even fewer.
-Small class-size schools have much more flexibility to
adjust their teacher-to-student ratio and focus on
academic outcomes.
 3 Tips on How to Manage an Overcrowded
Classroom

1. Keep Everyone Busy

-The more students you have in your classroom, the
easier it is for a few distracted kids to derail your
lesson. Because of this, it's absolutely essential that
you keep the whole class busy as much as possible.
 2. Use Flexible Grouping
-All classes have students at different ability levels who learn at different
paces. This becomes even more pronounced when there are more students in
the class. Because a large class size requires greater student independence,
put a lot of thought into how you want to group students for particular
lessons. Don't be afraid to move kids from group to group depending upon
their ability for a specific assignment. If students are not engaged—if the
work is either too challenging or boring—then classroom management will
become an issue. Flexible grouping keeps students working on tasks that are
just right for them, and it keeps you in touch with their individual needs.
 3. Keep Lessons Short
-It can often be harder to keep a larger group engaged in an
extended lesson. Because of this, it's important to be
strategic about how you structure whole-class instruction.
You'll often find that you can streamline your lessons and
keep your students' attention more effectively. Of course,
small-group lessons will also need to be short in a large
classroom so you can fit in time to work with as many
groups as possible.
 INSIGHTS
Common sense suggests that the fewer pupils a teacher
have in their class, the better a teacher will be able to
manage that class-leading to better educational outcomes.
Despite researchers broadly agreeing on the principle that
smaller class sizes see better results, there is an ongoing
debate as to the ideal class size and the cost of
implementing them.
Class size can affect teaching and learning in different
ways. A class with large numbers of students leads to an
increased number of academic and pedagogical issues,
which in turn, lead to increased administration and
management responsibilities. While the students
complain of a lack of opportunities to express
themselves, the teachers complain of passive engagement
on the part of students.
A minority of teachers advocates the assumption that large numbers of
students in class provide opportunities for positive teaching and
learning experiences. They believe that diversity in large classes can
offer a chance to explore multiple perspectives on course content.
Similarly, a few students acknowledge that studying in large classes is
more interesting and challenging. Dealing with large classes requires
coordination, management, and training. Every teacher can develop
the approach that works best for him/her, based on his/her teaching
style, students’ needs and capacities, and the goals and objectives of
the curriculum.
 REFERENCES
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1469787417735607

https://www.viewsonic.com/library/education/inconvenient-
truth-about-class-size/

https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/small-class-size-and-its-
effects

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/OMJ-
01-2021-1139/full/html#:~:text=In%20terms%20of
%20educational%20outcomes,in%20large%20and%20small
%20classes.

https://ojs.aaresearchindex.com/index.php/AAJMRA/article/
view/3101#:~:text=Results%20showed%20a%20significant
%20inverse,the%20Philippine%20public%20school
%20setting.