Education Minister Daryll Matthew

The Ministry of Education plans to hold public consultations in January on a proposal to introduce a 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. school day for primary and secondary schools across Antigua and Barbuda.

Education Minister Daryll Matthew outlined the proposal on the Browne and Browne programme after a listener questioned why secondary schools continue to dismiss students at 1:30 p.m.

Under the proposed schedule, secondary students who currently begin classes at 8 a.m. would start an hour later and finish 90 minutes later.

Matthew said the change could ease early-morning traffic and reduce the time children spend unsupervised while their parents are still at work.

He also cited an earlier pilot programme that extended the school day to accommodate extracurricular activities.

The ministry will gather feedback through town hall meetings before deciding whether to move ahead or conduct further discussions.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Antigua and Barbuda to Consult on 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. School Day.