Comparing class size and student-teacher ratios without comparing students' performance is telling half the story. And that's not being transparent.

Comparing class size and student-teacher ratios without comparing students' performance is telling half the story. And that's not being transparent.

Luxembourg has such a low student-teacher ratio and yet fared badly scoring even below the OECD average for all 3 subjects tested. What went wrong?

That said, it is not helpful to talk about 'small' or 'big' class size because different people have different ideas of what is 'big' or 'small' and we may end up arguing when we are actually in agreement.

It is better to talk about an optimum class size where the class size depends on the make-up of the class and students' needs. That is also the meaning of channeling more resources to struggling students.

When the class is too small, there is limited friendships and social interactions, individuals can easily dominate and hence disrupt the lesson. When the class is too big, students may not get enough attention.

An optimal class size creates opportunities for for students from diverse cultural background to interact, opportunities to collaborate in problem-solving, work in teams, develop leadership and communication skills.

It’s not really difficult to understand why Luxembourg did so badly. Give a thought to it. Do some critical thinking.