IN 2007, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called for the
implementation of single-session schools to keep children safe
from danger. It was in the aftermath of the Nurin murder case
and there was widespread concern for the safety of children. (Nurin
Jazlin Jazimin was reported missing on Aug 20, 2007. Her body
was later found in a sports bag in a shoplot in Petaling Jaya.)
Abdullah explained that this would mean that students have to
start school at the same time as they are doing now and go home
later. Hence parents, especially working parents, would be
relieved to know that their children were safe in school where
they could be monitored.
How it works
Education director-general Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom
supports this view.
“Students can be supervised better in a single-session
system,” he says.
“One of the justifications for the implementation of
single-session schools is to reduce incidents of children
being left at home alone after school hours.”
According to Alimuddin, the Education Ministry is striving to
implement single-session schools throughout the country.
Presently, 6,757 primary schools (88.4%) and 1,392
(63.8%) secondary schools are single-session schools.
The ministry aims to increase the percentage of
single-session primary and secondary schools to 90% and
70% respectively by 2010.
A pilot study on single-session schools in Setiu, Terengganu
— conducted by the ministry in 2006 — found that schools
utilised the extra hours in the afternoon to offer Islamic
religious lessons, coaching under the tuition voucher scheme and
sports activities.
In addition, the longer hours enabled schools to provide
more structured co-curricular programmes that encouraged
students to participate actively in clubs, societies and sports
activities.
“There are more contact hours between teachers and
students,” muses Alimuddin.
“This promotes better student-teacher interaction and
schools are able to offer extra lessons in critical subjects,
religious studies, Mandarin and Tamil classes.”
Single-session systems are already popular in cluster and
private schools in the country.
In general, such schools start like any morning session
school, with formal classes ending at around 2.30pm and
co-curricular activities, sports and extra classes keeping
students in school till 4pm.
Feedback
When quizzed, the majority of students and parents were
divided on the issue.
Sue Thong Sei Yin, a remisier by profession, was definitely
in favour of single-session schools.
“I have a son in Form Four and a daughter in Form One,” she
explains.
“It is much easier for me to send them to school and pick
them up at the same time.
“A single-session school allows curricular and co-curricular
activities to be carried out during school hours so that students
can then go home and enjoy family time together.”
Although she agrees with Thong that single-session schools
are convenient, fifth former Shaza Hana Muhd Faisal, 17, says
she would opt for a double-session format any day.
“Schooling hours are just too long,” complains the student
from single-session school, SMK Puteri Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur.
“My friends in other schools go home at 12.30pm or 1pm, but I
have to stay on till 2.30pm.
“I’m involved in Puteri Islam (a uniformed body) and I only
get to go home at 4pm some days. This can be very tiring.”
Although many students agree with Shaza, SMK USJ12 Form Five
student Denise Leom begs to differ.
Originally a single-session school, SMK USJ12 was converted
into a double-session one after a sharp increase in Form One
student enrolment.
“The change came when I was in Form Two. Although I now get
to go home earlier, I still prefer single-session schools,” she
says.
“There was greater school spirit then, and I learnt a lot
from the Form Four and Form Five prefects. However, I guess the
switch to double sessions was unavoidable.”
Clear benefits
Apart from safety, single-session schools also offer other
benefits, as principals of various schools are quick to point
out.
“Single-session schools allow for better planning and the
optimal use of manpower,” said Sri Kuala Lumpur Primary School
principal Tan Khun.
“In a double-session system, lower primary or lower secondary
teachers who are qualified to teach their students as they
proceed to higher levels can’t do so because the system prevents
this.
“However, this kind of continuity is possible in
single-session schools.”
SMK (P) Sri Aman principal Alainal Hasani Md Noor also points
out that a single-session school fosters greater staff and
student solidarity.
“Everyone feels that they are part of the school as there is
no separation between morning and afternoon sessions,” she said.
“With all students in school at the same time, it is also easier
to organise sports and team building activities.
Wesley Methodist School principal Vimala Matthews agrees that
there are advantages to single-session schools as students do
most academic work in the morning.
“Afternoons are just a bad time to study as the hot weather
is not conducive,” she said.
“Many government schools don’t have air-conditioning.”
Challenges
However, Alimuddin admits that implementing a single-session
system nationwide will not be easy.
“There are many implications,” he says. “For example, parents
will incur more expense as they need to provide extra pocket
money for their children’s lunch. The ministry also anticipates
a 50% increase in electricity and water usage.
“A single-session system may also cause greater traffic
congestion in the mornings and late afternoons, especially in
urban areas.”
Alimuddin also highlights several stumbling blocks to
implementing a nationwide single-session school system — the
lack of suitable land to build new schools in urban areas and
the high cost of upgrading and building new school blocks.
“Even if new schools are built, there is no guarantee that
parents will be willing to transfer their children there as such
schools need to build up their reputation,” he says.
There is also the problem of rising enrolment figures for
schools in areas like Kuala Lumpur and Johor, which sometimes
result in former single-session schools getting converted into
double-session ones.
Maznah (not her real name) is a former principal of one such
school in Selangor. Her school became a double-session one after
an increase of 300 new students.
“The ministry said that the school was over populated and we
had to split into two sessions,” she says. “Many of us teachers
were disappointed. We appealed against the decision but were
overruled.
“Management of a single-session school is easier,” she adds.
The way forward
Dr Tan is no stranger to when it comes to over-populated
schools. He encountered this problem when he was the principal
of SMJK(C) Chung Hwa, Kelantan.
With more than 2,000 students and record enrolment every
year, bold measures had to be undertaken to ensure that the
school’s single-session format could continue.
A believer in the dictum “the sky’s the limit”, Dr Tan and
his staff decided to construct three five-storey blocks.
“Yes, space is always a problem, especially for popular urban
schools but we can’t use that as an excuse,” he said. “You have
to make full use of all available land.
The ministry is of the same mind. Alimuddin feels that the
construction of “high rise school blocks” like the eight-storey
SMK Cochrane in Kuala Lumpur, may be a possible solution to the
lack of land problem.
He also feels that most teaching staff would, in the long
run, prefer the single-session system.
“There may be some initial dissatisfaction and adjustments
must be made,” he says.
“However, I sincerely believe that teachers will warm up to
the idea eventually as they will have more time to prepare for
lessons and examine students’ work during school hours.”
Another point worth noting is that while some single-session
schools in the Klang Valley have been changed into
double-session ones, the reverse has also happened.
“Sri Aman was originally a double-session school but being a
cluster school, we had the autonomy to revamp our system and we
opted to go single-session after our afternoon supervisor
retired,” shares Alainal.
With contributions worth RM1.4mil from the school’s
parent-teacher association, a new block was constructed. This
contained more classrooms, a meeting room, computer labs and a
gym.
“All of us are happy and we hope to remain a single-session
school. The students are responding well to the change, and our
science students study English Literature and Principles of
Accounting after 2.30pm.
“The only ‘problem’ is congestion in the staff room,” says
Alainal, with a laugh.