By Mumtaz Moosa Saley
14:02:2022

Over the recent weeks, you may have stumbled on the articles where the DA has said that schools should consider longer days to catch up on work missed during rotational days of 2022. Many schools have returned to regular class hours over the last few weeks.

While this idea may look great on paper, in reality, you have to consider every learner as the key to success is ensuring equal education.  Over the last few years, with the stop and start of school, we have seen many schools cover work done in the time frame given despite the many interruptions. 

Now I say that the DA has put some fascinating points across in getting learners who have dropped out to come back to school to ensure that more children finish a school day. However, I believe that an extended day will disadvantage many, especially those who travel long distances to their schools. 

In an ideal world, every child lives near the school they attend; however, we still see many children having to wake up at 4 am to get ready for school; by the time learners get to school at 7:30 am, they have been travelling for close to two hours, are tired and have to deal with long days as some only get home by 4 or 5 pm.  Most learners rely on public transport and taxis.  An extended school day may see children dreading the long hours and even face burnout.  Let’s face it, most kids, by the time they get home, still have a ton of homework to get through. 

The key would be for schools and other relevant and interested parties to share ideas on catching up n lost time. My kids go to public school, and last year with rotational lessons, students caught up and still had ample time for the final exams and started their summer holidays unofficially early. 

To give children the right to equal education, every learner has to be considered. Having a longer school day may lead to children feeling burnt out way before midterm exams, which will lead to poor results.  Then again, these are just my thoughts as a parent.