You've probably seen school buses squeezing through to pick up kids as early as 5 a.m. Many kids wake up as early as 4 a.m. to get to school by 7 a.m. Some are as young as 5 years old. But should pupils in both primary and secondary levels be put under such academic pressure? Our teen reporter speaks with pupils from Apam Senior High School in Ghana.#GirlZOffMute #77Percent
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00:00Formal education these days means we children spend most of our days in school. In Africa,
00:05some students go to school as early as 7 a.m. and close as late as 4 p.m.
00:11So, should school hours be reduced or even increased? That's what my peers and I will be talking about on Girls of Mute.
00:23Thank you all for joining me for this debate.
00:25So, my first question is going to be how many hours you spend in school, and do you like it?
00:31Yeah, I spend nine hours in school, but I don't like it because it's too long.
00:36We come early, around 7, go back to the house straight. We don't have enough rest.
00:41I spend nine hours in school, and I think it's too long because
00:46the academic syllabus here in our country is based on
00:51knowledge base and theoretical things, but we need to do the physical aspects, which is practical.
00:57For me, I think the time we come to class, our brains are more fresh,
01:01but we get to the later part of the day, we become very dull.
01:05So, I feel if they replace the last hours with maybe some vocational activities,
01:11it will help and it will be more interesting, so we'll be more engaged.
01:15I spend nine hours in class, and I think it's just right.
01:19We have syllables that we have to follow, so I think the nine hours is just okay.
01:23I also spend nine hours in class daily. It's just right for me because you have some time to rest.
01:28So, I mean, you don't spend exactly nine hours in class because there are breaks time inside.
01:32So, for me, it's just right.
01:34Since we have different answers, what do you think the ideal time should be in class?
01:40Do you still stick to the nine hours or you think it should be more or less?
01:44I think it should be ten hours, so that in every class session you spend at least three hours,
01:48three hours intervals, then you have a break time of 30 minutes.
01:51So, the one hour added to be the break time and then the full nine hours for class sessions.
01:57The nine hours should be maintained, but I think the activities that go on during those nine hours
02:03is what should be changed, like they should introduce extracurricular activities
02:09that would make us feel more stressed during school hours.
02:12I feel that the nine hours is just okay, but there are things in our syllabus that I personally feel
02:19they should not be part of our syllabus because I see them unnecessary.
02:23So, that's why I earlier suggested that we should do vocational skills or something
02:31that is going to enable the students to get something to do after school,
02:35even if the education did not really work out.
02:39It should be changed to seven hours with breaks inclusive and maybe practical lessons.
02:46At most, it should be seven hours and at least six hours including breaks.
02:51And also during those hours, there should be more practical works
02:55because now we found ourselves in the world of technology and more practicals.
02:59So, the syllabus of knowledge base should be less and more practicals.
03:05How do you feel with the current long hours that you teachers have with the students nowadays here in Ghana?
03:11As it is now, the contact hours should be eight hours.
03:17Looking at it, that should be the normal thing, but it should be interspersed with some breaks
03:24and some activities which will energize the children.
03:28That will make them not feel too bored.
03:31But if it becomes just reading, talking and then it makes it look long and then boring.
03:38Have you received any feedback from the students with regards to the long contact hours?
03:44Of course, looking at the schedules of students, you wake up from 4.30 and you come back to the dormitory at 4 o'clock.
03:53It is very stressful, but what can they do? It's for a period.
03:58In man's life, you need to go through some stress for a period.
04:02That is why we should have vacations where the children as well as teachers can also rest after a long stressful moment or time.
04:12What do parents also say about this?
04:14With parents, they are even wishing that their children stay longer in schools.
04:20Sometimes they even complain that they come home too early or too often.
04:27There you have it. I'm sure you have your own opinion about school hours, be it long or short.
04:33Keep the debates going where you find yourself.
04:36For Girls Off Mute, my name is Chelsea Inakra. Thanks for watching.