A lot of parents are concerned about the long hours kids spend at schools. Despite complaints, the Supreme Education Council hasn’t responded or taken up the issue in earnest. The large number of hours which students spend makes them dislike schools and even lose a sense of association with their alma mater.
The word Taleb (student) in Arabic means one who demands something because of one’s love for it.
This love, however, is found missing when we talk about the student-school relationship.
Students do not like education anymore and this is because of the long hours spent at schools.
The disadvantages of long hours spent at schools needs no further explanation. Students get drained by the time they reach home. And this is something no one wants.
Educational psychologists, sociologists and parents agree on the need for modifying school hours for students. While demanding this, they underscore the need for schools to go back to the system they followed a long time ago.
Elementary students should go back home from school at 12 noon. Primary section schoolchildren should leave school half an hour later, while classes for high school kids should end at 1pm.
The half hour interval between classes getting over at elementary, primary and high school would make it easier for parents to bring back their children from schools.
A large number of students use school buses, most of which bring them back close to dusk. This also contributes to traffic congestion, which haunts us wherever we go.
Do our education officials ignore the fact that both students and teachers need rest and want to be rid of all psychological pressures? Do they not realise that using time after painful school hours is something of vital importance for students’ learning?
It is a well-known fact that the number of classes influences educational and behavioural aspects of students’ lives. Why should a boring educational reality be imposed on our students in a way that scare them away from wanting education?
We should not assume that quantity and quality can be combined as far as education of our children is concerned. It is unrealistic to do so. A normal person cannot concentrate continuously on a subject for more than half hour.
Another concern is that our school curriculum is packed with information and content that is a burden on students and exhausts them. Quality should be a priority instead of quantity.
That is why reducing the length of classes and changing the timing when classes get over have become pressing educational issues that must be addressed.
We have suffered enough because of delayed departure from schools. On the one hand, this creates an unbridgeable gap between students and their schools, and on the other, creates a chasm between education officials and parents.
