The government last week announced new school and official working hours.

The new changes to school time will have a positive impact on children’s health, head teachers of private schools have observed.

Much as the new changes are welcome, however, the head teachers have said their implementation will impact the schools’ syllabus coverage and could affect the curriculum.

According to the new directives effective January 2023, schools will be starting at 8.30 a.m. instead of the current 7 a.m.

Official working hours will be eight (from 9a.m. to 5p.m), which indicates a 40-hour work week, from 45.

The government said the changes were decided in order to increase the family time and boost parenting models.

Some children as young as six had to wake up as early as 5a.m. to be able to start class at 7a.m, which implied that they had little time to rest and spend with their parents.

"The concern about sleep hours is valid; children should have enough time for rest. We believe that the decision to change the current structure was made in good faith,” said Elie Nduwayesu, the director of Wisdom School, which operates in four districts in the Northern and Western Provinces.

"But as we implement the new regulations, we will have to revise the timetable to compensate for the one hour that has been reduced to make sure that students get all the study packages they are supposed to have in a year.”

The government said the new changes were aimed at improving quality education and family wellbeing.

For Annet Mutamuriza, the headmistress of the Kigali-based King David Academy, the new school time structure will be more impactful for day students than those studying at boarding schools.

"I think that it is a good programme for day scholars, the ones who go home, because they will have more time to spend with their parents. But for boarding schools, there should be a different programme because the students don’t have to go home,” Mutamuriza said.

She added: "When the state authorities decide, they decide for the good of very many. I believe that in the long run, the decisions will have a good impact.”

The new directives will affect all schools nationwide.

"The government decision is timely, because there have been concerns about the shortage of children’s sleep time. For the young children, some of them even sleep during class hours, which I think results from few sleep hours.” said Alphonse Gahima, the director of Blue Lakes International School based in Bugesera.

"Of course the new changes will have an impact on the schools’ content and the curriculum will have to be readjusted. But I think what’s more important is to teach students when they can follow attentively than to teach them a lot of content when they cannot concentrate.”