Full Day School Program: Is It Good Or Not?

FULL DAY SCHOOL PROGRAM: IS IT GOOD OR NOT?   

     

     

            Hello buddies. Have you ever heard about Full Day School (FDS)—a program proposed by Minister of Education and Culture of Indonesia, Muhadjir Effendy? I’m sure you have, right? Just to refresh your mind, this learning program is applied for elementary and junior high school students in order to facilitate them with character education and general education as well. Although this program is well welcomed by President of Indonesia, Jokowi, does FDS work well? Is it good for students?

            Let’s see the advantages of FDS. According to Muhadjir Effendy, this policy is believed to be an effective way to build students’ character since they will be longer study at school (from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m.). Muhadjir believes that giving additional time to study at school is better than letting them to be alone at home since their parents are busy at work. The other consideration is that if children are longer in school, they can finish their school assignments until they are taken home by their parents. For other activities like reciting Quran for Muslim, the school sides can invite Ustadz or religion teacher whose background of knowledge and life have already known. Therefore, students can obtain good knowledge from teachers who are professional and competent.

            Not only does FDS have some advantages, but it also has some disadvantages. First, many parents don’t approve this kind of program of school. They believe that children need time to take a nap as it is good for children’ health. Second, students are easily bored. Therefore, if students have more time to study at school, they will be easily stressed because they must force themselves to concentrate for long time. The last, this Full Day School program cannot be implemented in some schools which are located in restricted are. It is because of this program is not suitable with schools whose facilities are lack.

            In conclusion, to judge Full Day School as a good program or not can be done by seeing its advantages and disadvantages. The FDS’ benefits are it is good for students character building, it can prevent students from being lonely at home since their parents busy at work, and it helps students to get good education as the teachers are professional and competent. Whereas, the lacks of this program are students have no time to take a nap, students will easily get bored and even stressed, and this program is not suitable for schools in the restricted area because of the lack of facilities.

By: Department of Education Media