Education ministry to review petition to delay school start times

Taipei, Sept. 15 (CNA) A citizen-initiated petition to delay junior and senior high school class starting times to 10 a.m. has gained more than 10,000 signatures in less than a week, prompting the Ministry of Education (MOE) to announce Monday that it will review the proposal and reply within two months.

In Taiwan, most junior and senior high school students begin classes around 8 a.m.

The petition -- submitted Sept. 9 on the National Development Council's public policy participation website -- calls for classes to run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and for nonessential courses to be cut to give students more sleep and improve learning efficiency.

It notes that students can already commute on their own and do not need to match parents' work schedules, while shorter hours would allow more time for hobbies and social activities.

The petition said that chronic sleep deprivation can lower learning efficiency, increase depression and raise the risk of self-harm or suicide.

However, opponents argued that shorter hours might simply lead to kids spending more time in private cram schools and fail to address late bedtimes.

The MOE on Monday said the petition will be handled according to the Directions for Implementing Online Participation in Public Policy, and its formal response will be issued by Nov. 14.