Nationwide, schools in the mainland have brought up ideas about changing the regular five-day school week, suggesting that a shorter four-day schedule could be better. With 876 districts across 26 states transitioning to four days, I think Hawaii should be one of the states to follow this.
One big advantage of having a shorter school week is that it could solve a lot of problems for both students and teachers. Less time spent traveling to school and lower costs of transportation could make things easier for families. Teachers might also have a better balance between their work and personal life, making them happier at their jobs.
Using a news source called The Guardian, Microsoft Japan tested the four-day work week which increased productivity by 40% and led to more efficient meetings and happier workers. They achieved the same result as a 5 work week with 20% less working time. Employees took less time off and staff stress levels decreased by 7%.
Principal Ron Okamura said that he used to have 4 weekdays but they didn’t get paid for the day off but it helped him focus a lot more on what he had to do and students were getting more time to finish their work over the extra day given to them.
Switching to a four-day school week would not be easy though. It would need good preparation, such as changing the curriculum to match the schedule and possibly training teachers to maintain the education the students get. Also, talking to parents, community members, and others would be important to address concerns such as them worrying the students aren’t getting enough education and get support from them.
The way schools have been balancing the school year is by making the weekday longer but the extra day off has allowed students to have more free time.
As things change in education and work, we need to think about the new ideas that fit the unique needs of Hawaii schools.
