Ontario considers removing kindergarten, primary class size caps

TORONTO – Ontario is considering removing caps on class sizes in kindergarten and in Grades 1 to 3.

Education Minister Lisa Thompson announced today that she is launching consultations with education partners on class sizes and teacher hiring practices.

A government consultation document poses questions such as whether hard caps on class sizes should continue, and if they were removed, what would be an appropriate way to set effective class sizes.

Currently, the kindergarten class size cap is 29 students and for the primary grades it is 23 students.

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Sam Hammond, the president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, says that at a meeting today the government warned it would have to make some difficult decisions as it tackles the deficit and “there’s no doubt” some of those decisions will affect public education.

He says increasing class sizes would have a detrimental effect on the learning environment.