Early start: Students arriving at 5am to start lessons at a senior high school in Kupang, Indonesia. — Photo taken from social media
For more than a week, senior high school student Desi Dopung Tonung has woken up at 4am, or 4.30am at the latest, to attend her first lesson at 5.30am.
While school starts 1½ hours earlier, the final-year student must stick to her usual bedtime as she attends extra evening online courses whose schedule remains unchanged, pushing her into sleep deprivation.
Instead of taking public transport, which begins service at 6am, the 17-year-old must now use a ride-hailing motorbike, which increases her spending by three times to 15,000 rupiah (RM4.40).
“The goal to make us disciplined is achieved (with starting school early), but our learning process is not efficient. At school, we feel so sleepy and dizzy that we hardly understand our lessons,” Desi, who aspires to become a nurse, told The Sunday Times.
“I want to return to our initial schedule.”
She is among students in some schools in Kupang, the provincial capital of far-flung East Nusa Tenggara province, one of Indonesia’s poorest regions, who start lessons at 5.30am and finish by 10.30am.
So far, only 10 senior high schools have been affected by the new times.
The provincial governor Viktor Laiskodat, from NasDem party, had set up the arrangement of starting lessons at 5am – two hours earlier than normal – in senior high schools in the city, which are slated to become “superior schools”.
He plans to make these schools cooperate with certain institutions in the country that can help the students get into top universities locally and abroad.
On Feb 27 – when the new schedule came into effect – and Feb 28, two schools started at 5am.
But after criticism from parents, legislators and others, the starting time was amended to 5.30am.
The move to start early was also extended to civil servants at the province’s education and culture agency on March 6 as part of a “mental revolution”, even though it was not clear what the governor was trying to achieve.
“We need human beings who are not only intelligent, but also resilient. We are nurturing (them),” Viktor said in a clip posted on his Instagram account.
On the early start for civil servants, the chief of East Nusa Tenggara Education and Culture Agency, Linus Lusi, said that by starting early, they could serve “urgent needs”, particularly communicating with schools that begin lessons at 5.30am.
The early start for schools comes even as Nadiem Makarim, Indonesia’s Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister, has made reforms to enhance the education sector, including scrapping the national exam and introducing a flexible curriculum.
Another student, Stecyana Alexa Selan, raised concerns over safety while travelling in the dark, as she now goes to school with a friend on a motorbike.
“I’m often scared of using roads in the dark,” said the 17-year-old, who wants to be a lawyer.
“It is very dangerous to travel in the dark. As a woman, I feel my safety is compromised.”
The new rule on early school times has also drawn opposition from parents, teachers, education experts, lawmakers and those concerned with children’s rights, citing health reasons due to lack of sleep, among others.
Desi’s mother, Yohana Liga Wadal, said she objected to spending more money on transport to get to school earlier. The 39-year-old history teacher is also worried about her child’s safety.
“I totally disagree with the rule. Students from well-off families may have no issue (with the transport). Additional transport costs are a heavy burden for us,” the mother of five said.
“At 5am, roads in Kupang are still empty. That opens the chance for immoral actions.”
Yunus Takandewa, who leads the commission overseeing education at the province’s Regional Legislative Councils, said the arrangement, which the commission had rejected, had no legal grounds and its implementation did not go smoothly.
“Many teachers and students alike have arrived late. They are forced to teach and study while they are still sleepy,” he said.
Education expert Darmaningtyas described the early school time as “complete nonsense”, citing the unavailability of safe and affordable transport services and poor electricity infrastructure in the province.
“If the goal is to enhance the quality of education, it can be achieved by providing quality teachers, implementing discipline in learning, supplying adequate educational infrastructure and giving both students and teachers incentives to stimulate the spirit to compete, instead of sacrificing children to go to school early,” he said.
Stecyana, who now sleeps less at night, said: “It is very hard to concentrate when our study time begins early. It’s better to study from 7am as it is more efficient.” — The Straits Times/ANN
