Effective January 2023, new school and working hours in Rwanda, as adopted by the cabinet meeting of November 11, 2022, entered into force.
According to the Cabinet communiqué of November 11, 2022, starting by January 2023, school hours were adjusted to 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, instead of 7:30 am to 4:00 pm.
The decision to adjust schooling hours aimed at giving families enough time to prepare their children – giving them requirements, and sending them or transporting them to school, easily.
The school time adjustment also ensured that teachers are ready and well prepared to teach and finish their workload on time.
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The new school schedule reduced pressure, or stress, on the students and the teachers.
"The adjustment of school hours has really benefited my sleeping schedule, helping me gain energy and stay focused. It has also improved my concentration and improved my academic performance,” said Tracy Kamikazi, a grade 11 student, at Mother Mary International School Complex.
"However, since the hours of leaving school were extended I do not have time to finish my school work and also participate in my extracurricular activities since we get home later than we were used to. I believe that if we attended school at the usual time and the school hours shortened to around 4 pm, students would benefit even more.”
Kessy Kaze, another grade 11 student in the same school, said leaving school late is tiring and they do not have enough time to do all their homework
A-level students also had their say.
"I think that there is so much to say on the new schooling hours especially from an A-level student's point of view. It has helped me sort out my studying schedule for the morning, given me proper time to switch to study mode in the morning and reasonable time to arrive at school and time to have breakfast at the table as a family, which was only a weekend thing before,” said Hardi Juve Niyoyita, a culture prefect at Mother Mary International School Complex.
"However, considering the small attention span of students on a general level, most of us are often tired towards the end of class. We were not used to this.”
But not all the students are really excited by the fact that they no longer have to report at school at exactly 7:30am.
Priscilla Kayumba, an A-level student, noted that her dad, a public servant, has a working schedule that compels him to leave home very early in the morning. That means Priscilla also has to wake up so early so that "my dad drops me at school before he goes to work.”
"For me, nothing much really changed. Previously, I used to leave home at 6am. But now I leave at 6:30am, while most of my colleagues leave home at around 7:30,” she said.
Teachers also welcomed the changes, but with mixed feelings.
"The extension of school hours has really benefited me. It has improved my job performance. It helped me become better prepared for what I teach the students on a daily basis,” said Sam Ogwang, the deputy principal at Mother Mary International School Complex.
But Sam Nkurunziza, the head teacher of Kagarama Secondary School, had a slightly different opinion.
He said: "It was really challenging at first for my colleagues and I for the first few days, because we had not adjusted to the new school hours. We adapted quickly. Nonetheless, it has been an issue balancing school work and extracurricular activities.”