Ontario Education Minister Lisa Thompson attends Question Period at Queens Park, in Toronto on Nov. 19, 2018.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Ontario’s education minister says no decisions have yet been made as the government considers removing class size caps in kindergarten and primary grades.
Lisa Thompson says in a tweet that she looks forward to the education sector sharing their perspectives to ensure tax dollars have the greatest impact in the classroom.
Currently, the kindergarten class size cap is 29 students, and the average of class sizes across any board can’t be more than 26.
For the primary grades the cap is 23 students, but at least 90 per cent of classes in any board must have 20 or fewer students.
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.
Sam Hammond, the president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, says government officials told him in a meeting that they need to work toward balancing the budget and some decisions will affect public education.