Dear Editor,

Recently there has been public disquiet surrounding the suggested extension of the school day by People’s National Party spokesman on education Damion Crawford and, needless to say, it met with thundering backlash and scoffing that reverberated across the Jamaican education system.

Anyone who has spent a day in a classroom with 40-plus students knows that stretching the school day with an already restless group is a recipe for diminishing returns.

I appreciate his efforts and rationale for the proposal to keep our students under supervision instead of them being on the streets or home alone after school hours. Its practicality is another matter entirely. This proposal risks ignoring a crucial piece of the puzzle: the ergonomics of the classroom. Longer hours don’t necessarily equate to better learning outcomes, especially if fatigue sets in — for both students and teachers. Less is more and more is less.

According to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, ergonomics is the study of designing work to suit the employee so that factors that can significantly impede work performance is minimised. The goal here is to reduce discomfort and prevent an increased risk of injury on the job that comes with repetitive motions and tasks.

The teaching profession can be equally rewarding and arduous. It takes superhuman effort to juggle lesson plans, manage diverse learning styles, and display emotional intelligence, all while staying on their feet for hours each day.

Yet we rarely consider how the day-to-day structure of the job affects the teacher’s well-being. Insufficient rest between repeated motions, such as marking papers and standing for extended periods, can lead to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), according to Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS). If we’re serious about improving education, we must recognise that supporting teachers isn’t just about salaries or resources, but designing the work itself to be sustainable and efficient.

We often talk about the pressures on teachers, but let’s not forget that students are carrying a heavy load of their own. Juggling multiple subjects, enduring long hours in the classroom, and then facing even longer evenings of study can be both mentally and emotionally exhausting.

The constant academic pressure, without adequate time for reflection, curiosity, or creative engagement, risks turning learning into a chore rather than a discovery. As an educator, I recently applied ergonomic principles in my assessment and teaching structure with respect to duration, which yielded promising returns for myself and my students.

Students should be provided with short, structured brain breaks every 45-60 minutes. These can include light stretching, mindfulness exercises, or even short walks under adequate supervision. Movement not only improves blood flow and posture but also re-engages attention and memory retention.

Instead of extending the traditional school day, teachers should be encouraged to leverage blended learning strategies (such as flipped classrooms or online modules) that allow for asynchronous student engagement and flexible lesson planning. This ergonomic cognitive redesign supports deeper learning without overloading the physical school hours, while offering teachers more control over their workload pacing.

Before adding more time to the school day, we must instead focus on optimising the time we already have. Ergonomics is no longer a luxury in education; it’s a necessity. If we fail to consider how learning and teaching environments impact human performance and comfort, we risk burning out our most vital educational resources: our teachers and our students.

Dujean Edwards

Lecturer

dujeanedwards@gmail.com