Schools—Class sizes
217. Hon Rod Caddies to the Leader of the House representing the Minister for Education:
I refer to class sizes in the state school system.
(1) Can the minister advise what the average number of students per classroom is in the metropolitan area?
(2) Can the minister confirm that the State School Teachers' Union of WA has expressed concerns about class sizes and the impact on the quality of education teachers are able to deliver?
(3) Will the minister commit to reducing class sizes in WA and, if not, why not?
Hon Stephen Dawson replied:
I thank Hon Rod Caddies for some notice of the question and congratulate him on his first question in this place.
(1) The response is in tabular form and I seek leave to have this part incorporated into Hansard.
Leave granted for the following material to be incorporated.
Average class sizes in metropolitan Western Australian public schools: 2025
|
Kindergarten |
Pre-primary |
Years 1 to 3 |
Years 4 to 6 |
Years 7 to 10 |
|
18.5 |
23.2 |
21.7 |
27.5 |
26.9 |
(2)–(3) Class size averages in 2025 continue to be below the maximum size limits for all specified configurations. The minister will continue to work with the State School Teachers' Union of WA to address a range of issues. The Cook Labor government remains committed to the School Education Act Employees' (Teachers and Administrators) General Agreement 2023 and to reducing workload for teachers through progressing the workload reduction initiatives, including the establishment of the workload intensification taskforce.
