Oversize classes may even harm students' mental health. According to a survey conducted in three primary schools of north China's Hebei Province, around 12.8 percent of students in such classes were in various levels of anxiety.
"There is little chance for me to ask or answer any questions during class," Wang Yue (psuedonym), a pupil from Anhui Province, said. She shares a classroom with more than 70 peers.
The overcrowded schools also lack enough space for students to play or get exercise. Outdoor activity areas at schools should provide at least 6.75 square meters per student, according to Shandong standards. In reality, the number is closer to 3.75 square meters.
SLIMMING CLASS SIZES
Growing class sizes indicate that allocation of education resources have not kept up with urbanization pace over the past years, said a local education official in Shandong.
Construction of new schools and enrollment of new teachers are urgently needed, Zhang Zhiyong, deputy head of Shandong provincial education department.
Three decades of reforms and opening up have witnessed fast urbanization in China. Statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics show the number of urban residents stood at 749.16 million at the end of 2014, accounting for 54.77 percent of the country's total population.0 According to a report on China's migrant population released by the National Health and Family Planning Commission, around 62.5 percent of students aged six to 15 moved from rural areas to cities and counties with their parents in 2013, up 5.2 percentage points compared with 2011.
"A shortage of education resources has become the main problem we face," said Zhang Zhiyong.
Compared with commercial projects, local governments are less willing to use limited land and money to build more schools or hire more teachers.
In order to change this, Shandong pledged 122 billion yuan (19 billion U.S. dollars) toward building 2,963 urban primary and middle schools that would add 55,000 more classrooms and hiring 110,000 more faculty members before the end of 2017.
Yang Dongping also said a better balance for educational development between urban and rural areas is needed. As Chinese parents prioritize their children's education, they tend to move where their kids can be better educated.
