From the beginning of next year, KG1 students at Raffles schools will have one hour less class room time per day, as the school day will finish at 1pm instead of the current 2pm end time.
"We have carefully looked into this. What we noticed is that KG1 pupils are very tired during the last hour of their school day. We do not want to be child-minding; we want to provide what is in the best interest of the child. Keeping them there while they are very tired does not benefit them," commented Julian Williams, Principal of Raffles World Academy.
More than educational training, KG1 is a year in which children develop social skills. They learn how to collaborate with other children, how to negotiate and how to set boundaries, explains Julian.
With the new timings, KG1 pupils will attend schooldays of 5 hours and 10 minutes, which is not unusual. "There are other schools with similar school day hours," says Julian.
However, the announcement caused concern among some parents, especially when older siblings are attending classes at the same school.
"How can this be allowed to change timings only for KG1 when all other timings remain the same, even nursery continues until 2 pm?
Two different pick up times? How is one supposed to manage this?" wonders a mother on an online forum for expats in Dubai.
"We live in Springs so there is no way I will be going back home in between pick-ups. We will have to sit in the car park for an hour and wait - how does this alleviate the parking situation any? Alternatively parents picking up KG1 kids will hang around the school play areas and atriums and disrupt the rest of the classes which are still carrying on till 2pm. This also means that my daughter who will be in Grade 3 will not be able to do any after school activities because that would mean hanging around the school for two hours," writes another mother on the same forum.
Others described the move as an indirect fee increase, as children would now receive less hours of school for the same amount of money.
"I can see why parents feel this way. But we believe quantity is not the most important thing. We want to offer people value for money, the quality of the classes is more important.
However, to meet concerns about pick up hours, the schools will provide after school care, which will be free of charge, says Julian. "For parents who are worried about the new pick-up time we will have after school care until 2pm. We hope this will not be used as free daycare. It is meant to meet the concerns of parents who are troubled with the new timings."
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