Year round schooling is a system of schooling that differs from the ten-month calendar education system. Students still attend school for 180 days but the days are spread out through the whole year with short breaks in between terms. The most popular form of year-round education that is implemented today is the 45-15 system (Walker, 2015). It requires that students attend school for forty-five days consequently before taking a fifteen-day break. This system is carried on until the year ends. There are also different ways in which this education system is used. Schools have a choice of a multi-track or a single-track system. The latter entails that all students operate on similar calendars and as a result, share the same holidays. The multi-track system, on the other hand, has different attendance and vacation schedules for various groups of students. While some students are in school, others are on holiday, and when one group comes in from vacation, another group go’s out. This paper will take a look at some of the pros and cons of year-round schooling and the changes it effects to students, teachers, and families.
One major benefit of year-round school is that it helps reduce overcrowding in schools (Walker, 2015). Because of the multi-track system, where one track comes in, and another follows out, the number of students present in school at any given time is drastically reduced. As a result, schools can cut down on costs of building and have fewer classrooms but still be able to cater for the large numbers of students enrolled onto their system. This reduction also helps to relieve the stress of managing the large numbers and allows for better control of students. Another advantage of this scheme is that teachers are no longer constrained by limited time. In the many instances where students have one long summer holiday teachers tend to struggle to finish the syllabus. The three months that students take off reduces the period teachers have with their students. With the year-round system, teachers have more time to go over the course work, and critical sessions are no longer shortened.
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Year-round schooling also helps students to advance quicker in their education (Walker, 2015). The summer breaks result in students being divided because of their age. With the year-round school system, there is less of a distinction between one year and the next. As a result, more advanced students can progress to the next level without having to wait for the next school year to start. This system also helps to cut down on brain drain on students. The long summers take a toll on the student's memory as they tend to lose a great deal of what they are taught. At the end of the long breaks, teachers have to put on extra time to learn what had already been covered the previous year. By taking shorter breaks, students can retain more information hence saving on time which could have been wasted learning old concepts.
That said, year-round schooling has its pitfalls. It has a negative impact on families with young children and parents that are both working. Many of these families require daycare, but unfortunately, many daycare centers do not offer their services for short periods of time (Walker, 2015). Families that cannot find an alternative are often left with no choice but for one parent to stay home and take care of the children. This decision could subsequently put some families in financial distress. It is also a challenge for families that have children in different schools with schedules that differ. This could cause problems in arranging for childcare and managing job programs. Because of these disparities, some parents have no choice but to leave work to cater for their young.
The year-round system also has an effect on student’s way of learning. Many students have a problem settling after a break, and this is only worsened by having multiple breaks in a year (Walker, 2015). Many students are not focused for the first period of learning, and just as they regain focus, they are out for yet another break. As a result, students gain less overall with this system as opposed to having just one holiday in a year. Moreover, parents who take their children to year-round schools incur a higher cost than those who don’t. Schools that run in the summer have to take measures to have air conditioners running as students learn. As a result, parents are required to pay more tax due to the higher operating costs of schools during the hot summer season.
In conclusion, the year-round system of education is an improvement over the ten-month calendar system. Although not suitable for all family setups, it has more merits than demerits. It has improved the efficiency of how students are taught. Less time is wasted and more knowledge passed over a shorter period. It has also enhanced the quality of students that schools produce at the end of the learning course of every institution due to a smooth way of learning. All in all, the year-round system fulfills the overall purpose of what any school aims to achieve in a more efficient way than the ten-month calendar system and is, therefore, a better system in comparison.
References
Anderson, D. M., & Walker, M. B. (2015). Does shortening the school week impact student performance? Evidence from the four-day school week. Education Finance and Policy.
