SHAH ALAM - The Education Ministry has been urged to consider starting school sessions here at 8am
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Education Diversity Study Center education expert Dr Anuar Ahmad said the suggestion was to celebrate the Malaysia Madani concept and the slogan 'Happy Students, Happy Teachers, One School and a Prosperous Nation'.
He said the government should sympathise and empathise with teachers, parents and children who were forced to wake up at 4.30am.
"In the cities they are forced to go through traffic as early as 6am in their journey to school.
"Rural school children are forced to walk through uneven and muddy roads. Some are forced to go through small trails. Some children are forced to take a boat in the dark," he said in a statement on Tuesday.
He said the steps would ensure the children could have breakfast with their families rather than rushing to school.
"If the government was concerned with the wellbeing of the people, what's wrong with aiding them by changing the school sessions to 8am," he said.
The current school sessions begin at 7.30am.
He also suggested for the Education Ministry to consider shortening school hours.
"Only 30 minutes (will be missed), I don't think it will be an issue if the ministry shortened the sessions in the morning and the evening by 15 minutes," he said.