Gym class to be held in hallways due to overcrowding in B.C. schools

Overcrowding at a high school in B.C. is forcing some teachers to take a more creative approach to gym class.

Lacking gymnasium space, students at Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary in Surrey will soon be using hallways to play ping-pong and indoor curling equipment when it’s too rainy to go outside, the Vancouver Sun reports. The school is located in B.C.’s largest school district, which has 70,000 students and 12 per cent of B.C’s student population. With burgeoning enrollment and no extra space, teachers have been designated certain hallways, and spaces in the school’s cafeteria, for circuit training in an effort to keep up with the province’s PE requirements.
Lord Tweedsmuir, and other schools in the district, have also started classes earlier in the morning and end them later in the afternoon to better use space.

While the solutions are creative, they are far from ideal, say Surrey residents. Overcrowding has serious ramifications for students who can’t get credits they need for university, and the extended school days has made it nearly impossible for students to work part-time jobs or look after younger siblings.