Bohol Representative Kristine Alexie Tutor.
A RANKING congresswoman has suggested to schools with just one shift to start their classes at mid-morning—around 8am or 9am—to give students from kindergarten to senior high school enough time to sleep and have breakfast.
“Students need lots of sleep. Waking up at 5am or 6am is not good for children’s physical development and mental health. Having insufficient sleep is the main problem we seek to address here, Bohol Representative Kristine Alexie Tutor said over the weekend.
Tutor noted, “Stunted growth of school kids is not just a matter of malnutrition and undernourishment. It is also a matter of not having enough sleep because it is during sleep when the body is at rest is the daily regeneration or growth period. Lack of sleep also results in restlessness, anxiety, lack of focus, and sleeping in class during the day.”
Starting classes at 8am or 9am, the congresswoman said, also gives time for the students to have breakfast at school “if the students are unable to eat breakfast at home before going to school, school feeding time can be at 7am to 8am before classes start.”
Tutor does not see the need for a new law to make this change happen because it “can be done administratively… classes in schools with just one shift to can start at 8am or 9am and end around 3pm to 4pm. These are the schools with enough classrooms. Yes, there are such schools.”
Starting classes mid-morning would also “give teachers time to prepare.”
“Starting classes at around 9am would give teachers 1 to 2 hours to get themselves and their classrooms ready if they report for work at 7am or 8am. Ending classes at 3pm o 4pm enables teachers to attend to administrative tasks and winding up matters before going home, making for less work brought home and other work-home crossover tasks,” Tutor said.
Non-teaching personnel also need the prep time, she said.
“Janitors, utility staff, and security personnel also need preparation time to ensure the same is clean, ready, and secure before classes start,” she said.
Tutor stressed that “weekends should be free time with family for all students and teachers, except for the occasional co-curricular activities, training, and contests. Co-curricular activities that are not integral to classes must not disrupt weekday classes….No ROTC or similar activities on Saturdays or Sundays.”
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