Senior-high school students would from August no longer be required to arrive at school by 7:30am, 40 minutes ahead of class time, the Ministry of Education announced on Tuesday.
The 40-minute independent study period would be scrapped and teachers would not be allowed to schedule classes or tests before 8:10am, K-12 Education Administration Director-General Peng Fu-yuan (彭富源) said.
“There can be no tests, regardless of the format,” before 8:10am, Peng said, adding that the ministry would set up a mechanism for students to complain should their school breach the updated rules.
Photo courtesy of the New Taipei City Department of Education
Schools would once per week be allowed to ask students to arrive as early as 7:30am for general assemblies, he said.
Most high schools ask students to arrive by 7:30am and classes usually end at about 5pm, with the first 40 minutes of each day reserved for independent study or general assemblies, he said.
Over the past year, this practice has been increasingly criticized, with many members of the public saying that students have too little free time.
A proposal on the government’s Public Policy Online Participation Network Platform to start the school day at 9:30am garnered support from more than 10,000 Taiwanese and sparked a nationwide discussion.
Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said he is considering to revise the 7:30am start time for junior and senior high-school students, adding that several rounds of public hearings and discussions had been held on the issue.
However, the ministry said that junior-high school students would still be required to arrive by 7:30am every day for independent study or general assemblies.
The Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy commended the decision, saying that it would allow teenagers to have more rest and freedom, which would contribute to their health.
The association proposed complementary measures that it said would ensure nationwide compliance with the new regulations.
However, junior-high school students should benefit from the same policy, it said.
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