WA public schools: The silent crisis affecting teacher and student wellbeing

Western Australia’s public schools are grappling with a silent crisis: overcrowded classrooms. While this issue has simmered beneath the surface for years, it’s increasingly affecting both teachers’ well-being and students’ ability to thrive. As more students are squeezed into classrooms, educators find themselves stretched too thin, juggling growing workloads with an education system that struggles to keep pace.

The Facing the Facts report led by Dr Carman Lawrence found that maximum class sizes are higher in WA than in other states.

While Victoria caps classroom sizes at 26 for Years 4-10, and Queensland at 28, WA allows up to 32 students, putting additional strain on teachers and reducing the individual attention students need to succeed. The State School Teachers’ Union of WA (SSTUWA) has been at the forefront of advocating for change, arguing that large class sizes severely impact teaching quality and student outcomes.

SSTUWA President Matthew Jarman stresses the urgency of reducing class sizes.

“Managing larger classes impacts the quality of teaching,” Mr Jarman explained.

He argues that smaller classes are essential for creating a manageable teaching environment and ensuring better educational outcomes for students.

Mr Jarman adds that overcrowded classrooms exacerbate teacher burnout and stress.

“Teachers are trying to manage students with increasingly complex needs and behaviours,” he said.

“They are expected to deliver multiple individual learning plans, meet parent expectations, manage behaviour, complete administration tasks and marking, all on top of their actual job of teaching. These factors are all leading to teacher burnout and people quitting the profession.”

There are currently more than 10,000 teachers who are registered to teach in WA, but aren’t.

Teachers are not the only ones feeling the strain. Students, too, are impacted by overcrowded classrooms. Larger class sizes mean less individual attention, slower progress, and a reduced capacity for teachers to address unique student needs.

“Smaller classes would make classrooms far more manageable, which would help with retaining and attracting teachers, which translates to better results for students,” Mr Jarman said.

“Fewer students would improve teachers’ ability to manage their classrooms, particularly in classes with students who have complex needs and behaviours which affect classroom dynamics. There would be more opportunities for teachers to give different instructions to different students, based on their individual learning needs. All these things would lead to happier, safer classrooms, better educational outcomes for students, and less burnout and more job satisfaction for teachers.

“And that satisfaction would lead to more teachers staying in their jobs, more registered teachers agreeing to return to classrooms and more graduates seeing teaching as a viable career. Smaller class sizes are part of the solution to teacher shortages.”

The SSTUWA has made reducing class sizes a priority, emphasising that smaller classes are not only about improving academic performance but also about ensuring the well-being of both teachers and students. Mr Jarman said reducing class sizes is the biggest and most effective lever the government can pull to improve the quality of public education in this state.

“Given Western Australia’s strong financial position, and the fact that we have some of the largest class sizes in the country, the SSTUWA believes reducing class sizes is the best option for government to consider.”

As the union continues to push for reform, the spotlight is firmly on the WA government to act before the issue escalates into a much broader problem.

Target 27 is a new campaign by the State Schools Teachers’ Union WA that calls for a reduction in maximum class size for years four to ten, from 32 to 27. Visit the website to find out more.