Let children be children at the weekend
LAHORE: Students already spend seven hours a day and five days a week in compulsory education. That’s 35 hours a week. They are then often expected to spend additional hours each week on homework and studying for quizzes and tests. The pressure becomes too much to bear at times. As a result, we are forced to spend less time with our parents and families. On top of the regular burden, having school on Saturday is perhaps the worst idea.
School on Saturdays cannot possibly give one the space and freedom to develop individual thought that is built on in spare time. This is what is incredibly useful in later life. After all, as adults we have to think for ourselves, we have to develop the mechanism to answer on our own and come to our own conclusions. We have to develop positive, equal and balanced relationships.
School on Saturdays merely detracts from productivity and quality work. Students would benefit much more from having a break, being with their family and spending quality time with people that have their best interests at heart.
Let children be children at the weekend. They are constantly learning and it doesn’t always have to be in a classroom, especially on a Saturday.
Ajmal Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, July 11th, 2017.
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