2023-03-26 18:01:50
UK Daily News with John Hare
A school in Indonesia is trialling 5.30am starts for teenagers
A trial that has Indonesian teenagers starting classes before the sun is up is leaving students exhausted and unsafe, say parents.
The project in Kupang, the capital of East Nusa Tenggara province is a controversial trial that has 12th grade high school students (aged 16 and 17) starting class at 5.30am , rather than the usual time of 7-8am.
According to The Guardian, the scheme is designed to strengthen students’ discipline, but parents are complaining that their children are exhausted by the time they get home.
Safety is also a concern when students are travelling, and starting classes, in the dark.
It is not just parents criticising the scheme. It has been questioned by The Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry, as well as the Child Protection Commission who have called for a review of the policy.
Five million school days are lost due to trips away during term-time
More than five million school days were lost last year by parents taking their children out of school for term-time holidays, figures show.
Sun-seeking parents were yesterday accused of ‘valuing a passport to Majorca’ over their children’s future.
A staggering 5,148,548 school days were lost through ‘unauthorised term-time holidays’ in the 2021/22 school year, analysis of Department for Education (DfE) data shows.
Frank Young, editorial director at the Civitas think-tank, which analysed the data, said: ‘Too many parents aren’t taking school seriously. Even missing a day or two has an impact.
‘Parents are valuing a passport to Majorca rather than a passport to the future,’ he said. ‘Really good parents shouldn’t be taking their children out of school because it does damage them.’
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