SAINT Joseph Tenaru Catholic School has confirmed it has enrolled additional students into its Form 1 and Form 4 classes for this following approval from the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development (MEHRD).
Recently, the school’s management approved an enrolment limit of 40 students for each of its two Form 1 classes as well as each of its two Form 4 classes.
‘In the first place, the board only allowed 40 students as the maximum number for each class, especially for Form 1 and Form 4. So, the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development has allowed us to enroll an additional nine students for Form 1 and Form 4, which raises the number of students in Form 1 to 90 and, also the number of students in Form 4 to 90. Each of the two forms has two classes,” a spokesman for the school management said.
The rising number enrollment at the Saint Joseph Tenaru School over the past years had seen 60 to 70 students in each form, making it difficult for the school to manage effectively.
The school management said the school has capped Form 1 enrollment at 80 students, with a maximum of 40 students per class, but the latest approval of additional student enrolment by the ministry will raise the number of students for each of the two classes per form to 90. That’s 45 students per class.
“The decision we made in the first place in reducing the number of student enrolment per class to 40 was to ensure better classroom management and effective teaching and learning.
“The school has learnt from the overcrowding problem it experienced over the past years, which contributed to poor examination results and strains on both teachers and students.
“But the latest shift by the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development approving the additional student enrolment figures should not be a big deal for the school as the ministry is monitoring learning issues,” the spokesman for the school management said.
The school is located in Central Guadalcanal Constituency.
By JIMMY NOLAN
Solomon Star, Honiara
