The Department of Education is not keen on the DA’s proposal to extend school hours Photo Vocfm
Johannesburg – The lockdown stole a lot of things from us including the education of our children. The Democratic Alliance (DA) is now on the path to combat the loss of learning by proposing an extra hour be added to each school day.
The road to recovery will be a hard one for students but the DA believes adding an extra hour can help ease things. However, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) does not seem to be a strong believer in this notion.
Elijah Mhlanga, a representative of the DBE made it clear to the media if the DA wants to try something like that, “they can start in the Western Cape.”
“If they want to extend the school day, they can start in the Western Cape and do it there. As a sector, we want all learners back in class and schools fully functional. All other suggestions will be addressed in due course. We don’t want to confuse people by sending mixed messages,” he is quoted to have said.
It seems like teachers are against the idea of longer hours. Many believe there could be pros to having an extra hour of schooling, the cons massively them.
Kwa-Zulu-Natal teacher, Ayesha Omarjee, explained that although teachers would welcome the extra hours, by the end of the day students are too tired to grasp anything.
“We notice the disinterest, restlessness, and struggle to concentrate as the day progresses. Classes are also overcrowded in some schools and not conducive to a comfortable learning environment.”
While the DA believes that the extra hours will combat the damage of rotational learning, teachers believe it will only do more harm to students.
“Adding hours will not only cause stress and anxiety but will leave learners with little time for extra curriculars and they will still have homework to do after. The curriculum was adjusted to enable learners to move forward to the next grade with the knowledge the Department of Basic Education deemed sufficient. So why is there now a talk of a ‘recovery’ plan?” asked Omarjee.
As for those who had dropped out of school, the consensus from teachers is more needs to be done to help them reintegrate back into school life. Extra support should be given to those who are seen as wanting to learn. The lockdown could have hampered their ability to learn but teachers stressed if a student wanted to improve and learn, they would support them.
Students have been under immense pressure for the past two years with lockdown effectively cutting down their contact experience and depriving them of vital learning.
Grade 12 student, Aiesha, explained that under the lockdown, learning was difficult and it only grew as she progressed from grade 10 to 12.
“Things were getting harder and harder. The workload might have stayed the same but harder work and less understanding is a bad combination.”
She didn’t lose motivation as she knew these few years would “determine if you go to university.” Aiesha was adamant an extra hour would not be helpful and would be a waste of time.
“Nobody is awake when the last lesson starts. Everybody is dreaming and we all just want to go home. Keeping us there for another hour makes no sense as that time will just be used for us dreaming and sleeping.”
Grade 12 brings its own challenges and Aiesha was convinced, had online learning continued, she would not have been able to cope with the work.
Zafar, a grade 8 student, didn’t have a tough time learning under lockdown but made his fear known that infections could spread now that classes were no longer practicing social distancing.
“I think it’s worse that people are going back to school altogether now because there could be more infections.”
Although he had fears, he was happy to go back to school as learning is easier for him and his classmates when teachers are around.
“Teachers can explain what they are doing and give you examples and help you along the way. Going back to school is a good thing in a way. You get to meet your friends and the teachers do work with everyone, so it is not hard on them. They don’t have to do the same thing week in and week out like they have been doing.”
Ismail, who is a grade 9 student, said learning during lockdown made him realise the value of student-teacher engagement.
“It was actually not that good because I didn’t get to learn all the work that my teacher gave to me… It was just watching videos. There was no real contact with teachers who you could ask for help.”
He described homework as easy to cope with until tough questions arose which required a teacher’s help.
Although there were many distractions around him, he didn’t lack the motivation to study. Returning to school has been a good thing for him as he feels learning is easier with teachers around and being in a school environment.
“The teachers are with you. You can ask them questions. They want you to ask questions. If you don’t understand they help you with those questions.”
He was one of the few who welcomed the extra hour of school as it could help teachers catch students up with work. At the same time, he felt the current duration for the school day is also suitable.
“I think the periods we have now are okay. Eight hours a day is okay. Nine hours might be too much because we won’t have time to go home and do homework. For me, I would like the nine hours. I think the nine hours would be okay.”
Parents of the students seem to be of the same thinking. They all feel adding school hours would do nothing but hamper their kids’ lives. The school hours would get longer, which would see their kids coming home later and thus everything else would get delayed. They stressed although school is important, it is imperative that kids were allowed to be kids.
A few schools in the United Kingdom have decided to increase school hours but it is too soon to say if it has benefitted the kids. Parents say the DA must also look at how rural children will be impacted. Those living far away will leave school later and could find themselves travelling, some to dangerous areas, as daylight fades. Parents and teachers are concerned these issues have not been looked at and the safety of the kids and the support structure that would need to be put in place should not be ignored.
