Educators want to take advantage of smaller class sizes to cultivate individuality and better guidance per student.

Full classrooms are created by scarce resources as well as pressure put on facilities and teachers by a huge population.

Smaller classes, however, are forcing authorities to deal with new problems, particularly a lack of qualified personnel.

For the first time in five decades, average class sizes in primary schools are down to around 30. That number jumps up to 40 in junior high schools.

Despite being high, the numbers are an improvement.

Not very long ago, it was not uncommon for around 60 students to crowd in a small classroom either in primary schools or junior high schools. Huge classes made it hard for teachers to ensure quality education and give sufficient care and guidance to every student.

Tough challenges remain for educators who appear to be more aware of the urgency of reducing class sizes.

Primary and junior middle school students in this city will have more access to one-on-one instruction in classrooms as small-sized classes will be popularized next year in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province.

About 70 per cent of primary schools and 60 per cent of junior middle schools in urban areas will be involved in the Small Class Education Project next year, launched by the Hangzhou Municipal Education Bureau in 1998, said Cheng Xiaojun, director of the Elementary Education Division of the bureau.

"In order to offer high-quality teaching, we have diminished the size of classes in schools," Cheng told China Daily.

Some teachers are dealing with smaller class sizes now than ever before - with an average of 24-36 students in primary school classrooms and less than 40 students in junior middle schools, Cheng said.

Before the downsizing, the class sizes ranged between 48 to 54 in primary schools and beyond 48 in junior high schools in the city.

Official statistics show that 87 primary schools or 60.8 per cent and 23 junior middle schools or 51.1 per cent in the urban area of Hangzhou have lowered class sizes.

"The prerequisite for implementing the program is to change teachers' traditional educational idea of gauging students' performances in a single way," Cheng said.

"We hope every child enjoys the sunshine of one-to-one attention to ensure that no child is left behind," said Cheng.

Small classes, however, mean more teachers and that also poses a problem. To deal with a limited teaching force, the local government has allowed schools to increase the size of their faculty, Cheng says.

The program not only allows for better student development but also gives teachers a chance to upgrade their skills, said Yu Guodi, headmaster of the Hangzhou Chongwen Primary School, during a recent conference.

Smaller classes give teachers the luxury of adjusting lesson plans to focus on individual students' needs, Cheng said.

"Such practices have proven successful in the past three years and students are thriving in small classes," Yu said.

Teachers and students work together towards individualized goals according to a long-term personalized learning plan, which arouses students' enthusiasm and tap their potential to the full, said Yu.

Still, rural primary schools are the focal point of the project.

Most primary schools with average class size of less than 35 students are in rural areas. Those smaller classes are naturally formed by a decrease in the number of students as more and more children of migrant workers move to the cities, said Cheng.

"We are trying to find ways of offering a high-quality education for rural children in relatively poor schools," said Cheng.

(China Daily December 27, 2004)