Calgary class sizes already prompting teacher complaints

Just three weeks into the school year, many of Calgary's classrooms are jam-packed and the head of a local teachers' union says he has already started hearing from teachers.

"We know there are some large class sizes and as far as we can tell right now, no immediate plans to change that because the funding has to come from the provincial government and it just hasn't so far," said Frank Bruseker, president of the Alberta Teachers' Association Local 38 that oversees public school board teachers in Calgary.

The official student counts won't be complete until the end of the month.

But students say they are also noticing some big classes and that has affected their learning.

"It's hard to get individual attention from the teacher," said Fiona Thomson.

She is a Grade 11 student at William Aberhart High School, where some math and science classrooms have between 40 and 45 students.

"You can't really learn super well because he can't do one-on-one explanations," said Thomson.

According to provincial guidelines, the average high school class size is not supposed to exceed 37 students.

But over the coming year, the Calgary Board of Education says it expects enrolment to increase by a further 3,000 students.

Bruseker says the challenges seen now aren't likely to change any time soon unless the board can hire more teachers and build new schools to address the growing demands.