In the UK, Overcrowding Means Creative Classrooms

Across the UK, because of population surges, the government is making emergency plans to turn old warehouses, courts, and vacant office buildings into primary school classrooms. The problem is urban (for example, in bigger cities like London, Bristol, Bradford, Leeds, Reading, and Southampton) since the economic downturn has many families moving into cheaper neighborhoods.

The UK government estimates that by 2015, in London, it will need to provide 70,000 new permanent primary school places.

But people are moving more quickly than classrooms can be built, and the London government is seriously considering “split shift” schooling, which splits primary school times into morning (from 7:00AM to 1:00PM) and afternoon (1:00PM to 7:00PM).

The UK’s population problem can also be attributed to a rise in birth rates and increased immigration.

In England, by 2015, the primary school population will number 4.39 million. By 2020, it will number 4.8 million.

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Creative Commons Love: Jenn Durfey at Flickr.com

Written by Ling Shu