With school starting at 5:30 a.m., the authorities in Kupang, a city in the Indonesian province of East Nusa-Tenggara, want to strengthen the discipline of schoolchildren. As part of the widely criticized pilot project, the school day starts around two hours earlier than usual for 16 and 17-year-olds at several schools.
Parents complain that their children are completely exhausted – school usually lasts until three-thirty in the afternoon. In addition, the safety of the way to school in the dark in the early hours of the morning is not guaranteed.
Experts see no contribution to improving the quality of education in the measure. On the contrary, persistent lack of sleep can impair the health of young people. Despite criticism, the local government is sticking with the experiment and extending it to the local education board. The officials there now also start their working day at 5:30 a.m.
