Government broke election promise on class sizes, say opposition

Rise in number of classes with more than 24 pupils

In the run-up to their success in the 2011 general election, the left-wing parties Socialdemokraterne and Socialistisk Folkeparti proposed a cap of 24 students per public school class. 

However, numbers from the Education Ministry confirm there are more classes with pupil numbers above the suggested limit this year, compared to when the proposal was made.

During the 2013-14 academic year, 26.5 percent of all school children were in a class with more than 24 students, while the average class had 21.5 pupils.

In contrast, during the 2010-11 academic year, the average was 20.7 pupils and only 23.0 percent of classes exceeded 24. And In 2008-09, just 19.5 percent of children were in a class with more than 24 pupils.

READ MORE: Class size ceiling will push students into containers

A problematic promise
"I'm not going to tell you how many students there should be in a class, but it's problematic when S and SF make a promise to the voters that there won't ever be more than 24 students," Jacob Jensen, Venstre's spokesman for municipal affairs, told Jyllands-Posten.

While Claus Hjortdal, the chairman of the Danish Association of School Heads, thinks a limit on class sizes is unrealistic, while Christine Antorini, the education minister, was quick to point out that the average class size is lower than 24.

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