It seems that the four-day schedule is slowly seeping into educational institutions as well, as Raffles Institution (RI) has decided that the Junior College (JC) students would be free from lessons on Wednesday.
As a matter of fact, this change has been in effect since last year.
Things To Do During The Gap Day
Rather than attending normal classes, the JC students are encouraged to engage in co-curricular activities (CCA) or enrichment lessons arranged by the school or have consultations with their teachers.
This means that the JC students no longer have to stay back after school hours for these activities, which frees up more time after school for their own interests and revision.
Even if the students choose not to participate in these school-related activities, they can use the free day to focus on their own work, sign up for volunteerism, exercise, or simply take a break.
An RI student by the name of Damien, who is currently in the second year of JC, told The Straits Times that he joined air rifle training on Wednesday in his first year.
For his second year, he has been using the mid-week respite for revision, while adjusting his own schedule to suit his own preferences. Since he was more attentive in the evening, he would use Wednesday mornings to catch up on his sleep and study later in the day.
It also gives students a chance to catch up on their never-ending schoolwork.
If there is anything JC should be defined by, it is the number of trees we kill on a weekly basis because of all the printed school notes, practice papers, and essays we have to do.
(The karang guni gets a fair share of business from JC students every year.)
The teachers approve of the gap day too, stating that Wednesdays can now be utilised for consultations and to provide feedback to students, or to better explain learning objectives and outcomes from lectures.
What Led To The Change?
The pandemic, actually.
Due to the need for social distancing and restrictions on gathering sizes during the pandemic, all mass lectures—which were held in auditoriums, holding a few classes at a time—were shifted online.
As such, the RI principal Frederick Yeo and the teaching staff realised that the timetable could be reworked to fit the classes in a four-day schedule instead of five.
Prior to this change, students only had time for themselves during the late afternoon or the weekends.
Mr Yeo told The Straits Times that RI decided to go ahead and free up Wednesdays as the school wanted to make the educational experience enjoyable for the students, especially since JC education has always been seen as stressful.
JC only lasts for two years, yes, but it is precisely because all the more complicated information is crammed within a two-year period that makes it all the more demanding.
The midweek break is a “deliberate effort” to find more space and time to allow the students to balance their studies, other interests, and rest, said Mr Yeo.
Furthermore, since the lectures were uploaded online, it means that students can repeat the lecture or digest the new information at their own pace.
Instead of risking carpal tunnel against a lecturer that is speaking too fast or having to attend a lecture while in the throes of a food coma, students can plan their own schedule and decide when they are most receptive to the lecture content.
Teachers can also focus more on covering core content and skills, though the duty of keeping up with online lectures now falls more heavily on the students.
In the same vein, students have related that they have become more aware of their own tendency to procrastinate and believe that they need to exercise more self-discipline.
The increased flexibility of their schedules is also a better reflection of what university is like, where students have a lot of autonomy over their module choices, time, and extracurricular activities.
Does It Work?
Truth to be told, the statistics are rather promising.
89% of Year 2 JC students surveyed in June last year, and 95% of Year 1 JC students who responded at the end of last year, felt that they had benefited from this new arrangement.
Majority of the comments said that they had more control over their time, more hours to rest, catch up with their studies, or keep up with their own interests.
Decompressing is really important to mental health.
A-level results have also shown that the students were not negatively affected by the introduction of a gap day.
Reportedly, the class of 2021 outperformed the 2020 batch, and was nearly on par with their 2019 seniors, which was a pre-pandemic year.
Moreover, 52% of students who took four H2 subjects scored distinctions in all four subjects, compared with 47% in 2020 and 56% in 2019.
A definite improvement.
Perhaps more junior colleges will try to implement a gap day as well?
The students certainly won’t complain.
If you need more evidence on why a four-day workweek is more effective, you should watch this video until the end:
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