Dear Editor,
Recently, some people have proposed a new educational policy, small class teaching, to the government. Many citizens are also arguing and giving opinions on this topic, making it a very hot topic in the city. And now, I also want to write to express my concerns about small class teaching.
I think that small class teaching is a really good policy for teaching. It really brings a lot of benefits to many people.
Firstly, small class teaching gives students a better learning environment. There would be fewer students being taught by one teacher under this policy. Then, each teacher can take care of and teach each student better, can’t they? The discipline in class would certainly be better when teachers can see more clearly what every student is doing. And how can the teachers do that? It’s to make classes smaller. When the class discipline in small classes is improved, students can of course learn better, can’t they? And actually, not only can discipline be improved in a small class, but also the learning atmosphere can be enhanced. In a small class, students can have more chances to ask questions when they don’t understand. Also, teachers can understand each student more and know clearly their strengths and weaknesses. Then, it absolutely helps students to learn more and to learn better, doesn’t it? It makes the quality of students in Hong Kong better. So, how good is small class teaching – a policy that can improve the quality of education in Hong Kong!
Secondly, it is really good news for teachers – their jobs can be saved! When classes are small at school, there would be more classes, wouldn’t there? Then, the number of teachers needed would inevitably increase. Teachers can then be saved from being redundant easily. Also, there is another good news for teachers – their workload can be lowered. Taking care of fewer students is of course less hard, isn’t it? Then, when teachers have a lower workload, they can have less pressure and teach more readily and happily, can’t they? This can not only make teachers work more efficiently, but also make their health better. So, how good is small class teaching to teachers – it makes teachers’ lives easier, better and more enjoyable!
Thirdly, having small classes is not only good news to students and teachers, but also to schools, especially those which are in danger of being closed down. Those schools can have more students from other schools. Though some schools may want to maintain the number of students they have, they still can’t have so many classes. They may have not enough asset, space or teachers. Then, those redundant students from those schools may go to the schools in danger of closing down. It increases the number of students at those schools and those schools can be saved from being closed down. So, it’s really good news to those schools, isn’t it?
What’s more, small class teaching makes it easier to divide students into groups for discussions in class as well as projects. Because there are just about twenty students in a class, it would be a lot easier to divide students into just a few groups. Also, because there are just a few groups, it would not be so noisy when discussing, would it? Students can work better in such a quiet environment, can’t they? So, small class teaching really helps a lot in grouping students, especially in some subjects like Liberal Studies, doesn’t it?
In addition, small class teaching solves the problem of low birth rate in Hong Kong. Schools don’t need to worry if they can have enough students under such a low birth rate, do they? They have small classes and don’t need to have so many students. So, it’s another proof that small class teaching brings a lot of advantages.
I don’t deny that it would be more difficult for students to enter some good schools if there is small class teaching. However, I think that it is actually a very good thing. Students can be more competitive because they need to compete with others for the chances to enter better schools. Then, they would work very hard to get the chances of being admitted. It would make the quality of students better when they are so hard-working. It improves the quality of Hong Kong people in the long run and it is really a good thing to Hong Kong, isn’t it? So, don’t worry if it would be difficult to enter good schools under the policy of small class teaching.
Maybe you will say that the Government needs to spend a lot of money on the policy of small class teaching. To me, it is worth spending the money. Think about the results of small class teaching. There will be better students and a better Hong Kong! I think the Government should spend the money in exchange for such great results, shouldn’t it? So, money is of course not a problem for the small class teaching policy – it always has more benefits than disadvantages.
In conclusion, small class teaching really has a lot of advantages. Actually, some classes like the tutorial classes are teaching in small classes, and we can see that it really brings good results. So, why not adopt the small class teaching policy? It is a very good way of teaching, isn’t it?
Yours faithfully,
Alice Chan