One Taipei high school has pushed back its start time by 25 minutes, by cutting out its early-morning study lab and flag-raising ceremonies. Students at Taipei Municipal Chenggong High School now only need to arrive by 8:10 in the morning, instead of 7:45. The move comes amid a broader push for starting high school later, to ensure that teens can get enough sleep and eat a proper breakfast.
Students trickle in at Chenggong High School. Nobody wants to be late. It’s 8 o’clock, and at most schools, these students would be marked tardy. But not here at Chenggong High School. Starting this semester, students need only arrive by 8:10 for first period.
Sun Ming-fong
Taipei Municipal Chenggong High School
We no longer mark students as late or absent if they don’t arrive before first period. Our hope is that students will find their own rhythm and still arrive early to class. They can come to school before class starts and learn or study a bit, to put themselves in good stead for the day.
Student
Chenggong High School
This way, we have more time to get to school. It’s not as much of a rush. We can leave home a bit later.
Student
Chenggong High School
In junior high and elementary school, we started very early. To be able to come in a little bit later in high school is a good thing, I think.
Previously, Chenggong High School required students to arrive by 7:45 a.m. for a so-called “morning self-study session.” Students who missed the arrival time would be marked late. But following discussions among student representatives, school administrators, and parents, Chenggong High School decided to do away the morning self-study session, as well as other early-morning activities like flag-raising ceremonies and other assemblies. Now, school officially starts at 8:10 a.m. The move comes after a petition in 2020, which asked schools to postpone the start of class to 9:30, so that students could get enough sleep and eat a proper breakfast.
Alvin Chang
Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy
Taiwan has the longest school days in the world. If the Ministry of Education wants to address it, it can delay the start of school. It can take the morning self-study period and make attendance voluntary. Students can decide whether they want to review their textbooks or get some rest during that time.
Students and the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy want the school day to start later, if not at 9:30 then at 8 a.m. The Ministry of Education says it’s still reviewing the proposal. In a 2021 poll conducted by the National Alliance of Parents Organization, 64.5% of students wanted a school day from 9:30 to 5. But only 18% of parents and 17% of teachers were in favor. Officials say more consensus is needed before a major policy shift.
