Alriyadh Newspaper

Recently, the Ministry of Education added an extra hour to each school day. This additional hour is to let students be creative away from their regular classes and take part in various extracurricular activities. The Ministry of Education has also promised to make this extra activity hour a success. To show its seriousness, the minister of education himself penned an article explaining the benefits of this extra hour.

Unfortunately, there have been many opposing opinions attacking the minister, especially from teachers! Such teachers may not be aware of the state of our schools in the past. Nowadays, many people believe that we are in the age of enlightenment, something that suggests that our schools were full of ignorance in the past!

I remember my middle school days when I used to draw, read and exercise. The school had a large library containing many useful books for all ages. When there was no playground for us to play in, the teachers found a spot for us to exercise so we got the physical activity we needed. We used to have many field trips during the school year that were both fun and educational. For instance, we might go to a farm or somewhere else in the city to explore and expand our knowledge. Some schools even opened their doors to students in the evenings so they could take part in different activities. After that, I moved on to high school and the activities seemed to be infinite. The school even had a theater and a lecture hall where outside speakers came to discuss different topics.

I believe that is the kind of school that we should have today. I also believe that this extra activity hour should have been added a long time ago to all of the Kingdom’s schools. I also hope that we can use this extra time in such a way so that our students will have finished their homework by the time they finally get home, so they can enjoy the rest of the day.

Schools should be a place for students to expend their energy but in creative ways so they can study, learn, exercise, and finally, enjoy their school day. Finally, I would like to remind parents of their crucial role at home where they should grow the love of school in their children’s hearts.