CRAMMED INTO CLASS; OUTCRY AS SCHOOL OVERCROWDING SOARS EXCLUSIVE.

Byline: BY ANUJI VARMA

THE number of illegally oversized classes for five to seven year-olds has TREBLED in the West Midlands in the last year.

A total of 30 of the primary school classes now have more than 31 pupils - compared to just 10 in 2007.

And 890 cve to seven year-olds are currently being taught in overcrowded classrooms compared to 410 in the previous 12 months.

The staggering statistics for Key Stage 1 pupils have been released by the Department for Children, Families and Schools (DCFS).

Of all the Midland local education authorities, Staffordshire shows the biggest increase.

The number of children studying for Key Stage 1 (KS1) in classes of 31 or more rose from 0 to 249 in the last year. In total there are now eight illegally oversized classes in the county.

Across England 6,500 of the KS1 youngsters are now studying in classes of 31 or more - up from 4,280 in 2007.

Last night, the DCFS said ministers were working with local authorities and schools to tackle the issue.

But Tony Pearce, West Midlands regional ofccer for the National Union of Teachers, said he was alarmed at the growing problem.

He said: "The Government introduced this limit on class size when it was elected and we welcomed that.

"However, we do believe that 30 is still too large for KS1 classes anyway.

"In order for children to get sufccient attention, class sizes should be limited to 20, not just for KS1, but for all primary school pupils.

"When the number is 30, it can be very limiting in terms of impact on children. The brighter youngsters will cope, but others will fall further behind."

He added: "It is worrying that there are classes which are unlawfully large in the West Midlands.

"Effectively, the Government is breaking the law by doing nothing about it."

Since 1997, the Government claims it has been committed to reducing infant school class sizes to 30 pupils or fewer.

Schools are only allowed to exceed the target in special circumstances, but the DCFS survey revealed that there are 200 classes across England which are aouting the law - up from 130 last year.

Yet Schools Minister Jim Knight claimed almost 99 per cent of infant classes were still within the law.

"We are concerned in the small increase of 70 unlawfully large classes, though it is still well below 2006 levels," he said.

"The law is absolutely clear on this - and there can be no excuses.

"We expect local authorities and schools to take their legal responsibility to limit class sizes very seriously."

But Shadow Schools Minister Nick Gibb accused the Government of failing to deliver on its promises.

He said: "Labour came to power promising to put an end to class sizes of more than 30 and Ministers claimed to have done this in 2005.

"But now we see that thousands of pupils are being taught in classes of more than 30 and the numbers are on the rise.

"It is yet another example of the vast gap between what ministers claim in order to win elections and what is happening in reality."

Staffordshire County Council refused to comment.

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