Single session schools

Having been in teaching line myself for the last 27 years, I think I can also throw in my 2 sen worth of opinion on single session school which has been pursued by those people in the higher authority especially after the brutal murder of Nurin Jazlin. From what I interpret from the news - single session means that all students will be in school from morning till 4 pm.

1. Is it safer for kids if they are kept for longer hours in school?
My opinion is a BIG NO because as teachers we can ensured that they are in the school compound alright but what will they do at our back, like in the toilets , behind buildings. And do bear in mind that not all students are angels these days so the more hours they are in school, the longer hours the kids will be influenced by those bad hats.

2. Will the students be bored after staying from let's say 7.30am to 4pm ?
Yes, definitely because some of them will be in school as early as 6 am depending on where they stay.Hence from 6 am to 4pm is 10 straight hours with no bath in between. Most school toilets are scare what more to say bathrooms for the kids?? In the present system they only stay in school for 6 hours , the truancy rate is already so high...what more to say to ask them to stay for 10 straight hours!!

3.Will there be enough classrooms for everybody if it is single session school?
Answer: NO. We simply do not have that much $$ to built enough classroom for everybody to be in single session. That is the main reason why double session was started many many years back. As Malaysia population is ever increasing but not in proportion to the increasing number of new schools built so the main problem still remains...NOT ENOUGH CLASSES FOR ALL IN THE MORNING unless some classes are conducted in the school fields or basketball courts or any available space!!

4.Single session means they have to take lunch in school, can the school canteen caters for all?
Yes, if they take Mee-in-my-mug for lunch, nuggets, hotdogs and junk foods for lunch. That means lunch for 5 days a week and 250+ days a year, unless the parents are hard working enough to wake up at 5am to cook nutritious lunch for their kids to bring to school.

5. Next will there be traffic jams in front of schools?
Definitely, now with one session already jammed like mad , so in single session school the situation will be 2X as bad!!If only the school,can give staggered timetable to parents on when to sent their kids to schools

Then the good things they say about single session schools:
1. They say kids will be very safe under the watchful eyes of teachers. Nowadays even teachers are not safe so were kids be safe?
2. They say longer time in school, the kids will learn more.How long can you expect a kid to sit still and learn? How long is their learning span?
3. They say kids can take part in sports activities or extra curricular activities in the afternoon. Enough facilities for all?

If you are teachers you will know for yourself too how correct these statements are!