The other day, a friend shared something that left me unsettled. Her daughter, a bubbly first grader in one of the country’s prestigious grade schools, had come home confused about an exam. When asked why she didn’t raise her hand to clarify things with her teacher, the little girl responded, “Our teacher would get mad if we talk.”

Let that sink in. In a school that commands a six-digit tuition, a child has already learned to fear asking questions.

Her mother, disheartened, described how her daughter, who is outspoken and curious at home, has grown overly fixated on “behaving right” in the classroom, rather than learning right. The child’s personal experience raises the broader question of whether our classrooms, public or private, are nurturing curiosity or suppressing it.

One potential root of the problem, according to my friend, could be miscommunication. To manage young learners, teachers could have overemphasized discipline that it overshadowed the importance of an interactive learning environment.

But a deeper problem could be class size. Smaller classes are often seen as beneficial. With fewer students, teachers are better able to address individual needs, get more personalized feedback, and spend more time in interactive engagement rather than in managing disruptions.

Studies have shown that reducing class size is linked to improved student outcomes, especially in rural and underserved areas where resources are already limited (Yamauchi & Parandekar, 2014). In other words, less really can mean more — more focus, more learning, and more meaningful teacher-student interactions.

But today, even in private schools whose prestige and tuition would suggest the promise of better teacher-student engagement, class sizes often hover around 30 pupils or more. That number, while smaller than the 40 to 50 student limit set by the central office of the Department of Education (DepEd), still presents a challenge, especially when the students are younger children who thrive with attention, encouragement and interaction. This prompts us to look at how other countries do it.

The child’s personal experience raises the broader question of whether our classrooms, public or private, are nurturing curiosity or suppressing it.

Across OECD countries, the average class in a public primary school has 21 students as the number of teachers per school is usually larger than the number of classes per school. In the United States, the National Education Association (NEA) strongly supports smaller class sizes, especially in the early grades, recommending no more than 15 students per class from Grades 1 to 3 to maximize individual attention and learning outcomes.

The impact of large class sizes could be detrimental not only to students but also to teachers.

Harold Naputo, who is featured in EDCOM 2’s Year 2 Report, was an English teacher and campus journalism adviser for 17 years. He now leads North Hill Arbours Integrated School in Tacloban City where 42 teachers serve over 1,300 students from resettlement areas.

Harold is doing everything right — requesting additional personnel, adjusting schedules, supporting his team. Even with creative solutions, such as clustering subjects and rotating specialized teachers, Harold admits the pressure remains high. As classes balloon in size, teachers juggle up to eight subjects daily. There’s only so much one can do within a system straining at the seams.

This begs the uncomfortable question: whether you’re paying six digits for a “premium” education or navigating the public school system, are you really getting value for money? Or are we funding a structure that simply can’t be stretched any thinner?

We often celebrate discipline in the classroom. But discipline without dialogue, silence mistaken for obedience and “good behavior” at the cost of curiosity, is that education at all?

Smaller classes don’t guarantee learning but they create the space for it to happen. For children to ask without fear. For teachers to teach without burnout. For classrooms to be more than just quiet rooms but be places of growth and interaction, where our children can ask the big questions.