MPs to investigate early school reporting times amid health, academic concerns

Members of Parliament are gearing up to investigate the early morning reporting times for students in both public and private schools, following concerns raised over students’ wellbeing.

Kisii Woman Representative Dorice Aburi raised concerns about a troubling trend where students are required to wake up as early as 5 am to catch school buses or attend extra lessons.

According to Aburi, the practice not only violates the law but also negatively impacts young learners' health and academic performance.

She pointed out that while the early morning hours imposed are intended to start classes on time, the reality is that many schools lack sufficient transport options forcing children to rise at the crack of dawn, leading to extended time spent on buses.

“Our school-going children are subjected to early mornings in a bid to start class on time. It is unfortunate to note that the majority of schools in the country have insufficient school buses or other means of transport. This has led to students being woken up in the wee hours of the morning to be picked up by the few buses. The children spend a great amount of time in the buses during pickup and drop off,” she said.

She noted that inadequate sleep from such early start times affects students' concentration, resulting in lower grades and diminished academic performance.

“Countless studies have shown that early start times are associated with students getting less sleep which negatively affects their academic performance. Further, students with less sleep have difficulty paying attention in class and are likely to obtain lower grades,” she said.

She emphasised that early school start times combined with insufficient sleep might also result in an increased likelihood of students engaging in negative behaviours such as bullying and fighting, alcohol and drug abuse, high risk of athletic injuries and an increase in depressive symptoms, including suicidal ideation among other behaviours.

“Sleep deprivation also has long-term physical and mental health consequences such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and obesity,” she said.

Weekend tuition

Aburi, also complained that students are subjected to tuition on weekends, which leaves them fatigued while it should be their rest time.

She pointed out that Section 84 of the Basic Education Regulations of 2015 mandates that school hours should run from 8.00 am to 3.00 pm for public and private day schools, with no students required to report before 7.15 am.

“Section 84 of the Basic Education Regulations of 2015 states that the official operating hours for all-day public or private school institutions shall be Monday to Friday from 8.00 am to 3.00 pm, for class hours and from 3.00 pm to 4.45 pm for co-curricular activities. The regulations go further to state that no day institution of basic education and training shall require learners to report earlier than 7.15 am,” she said.

For boarding institutions, the Act states that the facilities shall operate on a 24/7 basis with programmes running from Monday to Friday from 8 am to 3.30 pm for class hours and 3.30 pm to 4.45 pm for co-curricular activities.

According to the Act, from 5 pm to 7.30 pm in boarding schools, from Monday to Friday, self-directed activities are to take place, with preparation from 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm.

From 9.30 pm to 6 am is bedtime for students from Monday to Friday, while 6 am to 8 am is for supervised routine activities.

In her appeal, Aburi has requested the Education Committee to detail a report on the Ministry of Education's strategies to ensure compliance with these regulations.

“It is against this background that I request the chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Education to appraise the house on the strategies that the Ministry of Education has put in place to ensure that schools adhere to the set regulations, including prohibiting tuition during weekends, and the plans the ministry has put in place to ensure that all public and private schools that pick and drop students have sufficient vehicles to avoid long travel to and from school,” she said.

In response, the Education Committee said it would come up with a report within two weeks.