Because of how much more effective one on one tutoring is, it needs significantly less effort in total hours even maintaining a 30-to-1 ratio of students to teachers.
"It only takes about 50 contact hours to transmit basic literacy and math skills well enough that kids can be self-teachers from then on. The cry for "basic skills" practice is a smokescreen behind which schools pre-empt the time of children for twelve years and teach them the six lessons I've just taught you." [1]
Unless you have some strong evidence to argue why "sit down and lecture" is the most cost effective way to educate a population, I will retain my belief that it is a cargo cult at best.
For the first claim, 50 hours at 40 students would be 2000 hours. One year to complete the prerequisites for self teaching for those 40 students. Instead of 12 years full time lecturing, so that's 1/12th the cost.
I have volunteered at a school that allows students to become self-teachers and it is very effective. They follow the Sudbury model, and students entirely teach themselves everything from reading to mathematics. They graduate from college at higher rates than traditional school students, make more, and have very high levels of self reported happiness. It's a really cool model, I wish it was more common. The school I helped at had no teachers, only 3 adults for 120 young people. They could all come and go throughout the day as long as they signed in and out. It's been up and running for decades, so it's not just a flash in the pan.
Interesting model! Where is this school, out of curiosity?
A long term side project of mine is to build a neighborhood that can sustain a model like what you’re describing so I’m always looking for inroads into the practice of it. I’ll dive into the Sudbury Model but keen for real world examples as well!
"It only takes about 50 contact hours to transmit basic literacy and math skills well enough that kids can be self-teachers from then on. The cry for "basic skills" practice is a smokescreen behind which schools pre-empt the time of children for twelve years and teach them the six lessons I've just taught you." [1]
Unless you have some strong evidence to argue why "sit down and lecture" is the most cost effective way to educate a population, I will retain my belief that it is a cargo cult at best.
[1] https://cantrip.org/gatto.html