Somebody recently posted a proposal on the government’s Public Policy Network Participation Platform suggesting that classes for junior and senior-high school students should start at 9:30am.
The proposal passed the threshold for consideration by the government.
The person behind the proposal felt that students are asked to go to school too early in the morning — at 7:30am in most cases — and that this meant they were getting insufficient sleep. The result is that students nod off during class.
LEARNING EFFICIENCY
Starting the school day later in the morning, then, would significantly increase their learning efficiency.
The Ministry of Education responded by saying that this issue falls under the purview of local governments, but that it would look into it and give a response within two months.
For students to arrive before 7:30am, they need to leave home very early, unless they live close to school. If the journey takes half an hour, they need to start out at 7am, which means they would have to get out of bed by 6:30am at the latest.
If they want to get eight hours of sleep, they must be in bed by 10:30pm. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done, because before they turn in for the night, they are expected to do their homework, finish reading assignments and prepare for the next day’s tests.
Students finishing junior-high school or beginning senior-high school often study well into the night, and end up seriously sleep deprived. Over the days, year after year, this is certain to have an impact on their development.
There is no way of telling yet what the ministry’s decision would be, but if it does leave the decision to local governments, it could be a starting point for diversity in education.
IMPROVING EDUCATION
Indeed, the School-Based Curriculum and the School-Based Professional Development programs initiated with amendments to the General Guidelines of the Grade 1-9 Curriculum of Elementary and Junior-High School Education (國民教育九年一貫課程總綱) have made it easier to improve education at schools.
The situations and experiences of students vary widely, depending on where they attend school, be it in high-altitude areas or along the coasts. How great it would be for them to study subjects relevant to what happens in their lives.
For example, National Sun Yat-sen University repurposed an abandoned navy dormitory into a base for teaching staff and students about traditional Cijin sampan boats, an initiative that not only preserved a traditional craft, but also enabled them to develop a new style of boat by making models of the originals, an experience with significant educational value.
Taiwan is not a large country, and yet the climate in the north differs from that in the south, and lifestyles vary even more, depending on whether one lives in an urban or rural area.
AUTONOMY
This proposal, questioning our approach to teaching hours at the nation’s schools, can serve as a touchstone for how Taiwanese democracy is manifested, and how education is done.
It is not just local governments that should have some degree of autonomy in this, either — different approaches could be taken at the level of individual schools, too.
This would give students and their parents the ability to make their own choices and to be involved in the decisionmaking process.
Chang Huey-por is a former president of National Changhua University of Education.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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