More cities are pushing back school start times

Multiple regions across China have abolished mandatory morning reading sessions and pushed back school start times as part of a renewed drive to ease students' workload and promote healthier lifestyles.

This spring semester, cities including Chengdu in Sichuan province, Ningbo in Zhejiang province, Huizhou and Dongguan in Guangdong province, and Nanjing in Jiangsu province have issued regulations canceling unified morning reading and prohibiting schools from requiring students to arrive early for collective study.

The measures align with existing regulations from the Ministry of Education, which set baseline start times: primary schools should begin no earlier than 8:20 am, and secondary schools no earlier than 8 am.

In 2025, the ministry reiterated that schools must not require early arrival for scheduled instruction and, where conditions allow, should ensure students have adequate time for naps.

As a pioneer in the reform, Shanghai implemented similar policies as early as 2007, delaying school start times to ensure sufficient sleep — primary schools begin after 8:15 am and middle schools after 8 am.

Studies show that sufficient sleep not only relieves physical fatigue and supports healthy brain development, but also improves memory and learning efficiency, Wu Jing, an associate researcher at the National Institute of Educational Policy Research at East China Normal University, told Shanghai-based Wenhui News.

Despite scientific consensus and repeated directives, implementation has faced hurdles. Some school administrators, teachers and parents still cling to the belief that more school time leads to better grades.

Over the past five years, some schools have circumvented policies by rebranding morning reading as pre-class preparation or self-study, requiring students to arrive before 7 am, according to the report.

Pan Feiran, Party secretary of Shanghai Jianping West Middle School, said schools now face the challenge of completing required curricula, ensuring two hours of daily physical activity, and conducting moral education and research activities — all within reduced on-campus hours.

Gu Minxia, principal of Shanghai Baoshan Nanda Experimental School, pointed to a practical dilemma: "Students are arriving later, but working parents' schedules haven't changed. Schools find it difficult to turn away children who are dropped off early."

Parents of students in the final year of middle and high school, who are preparing for key entrance exams, worry that losing half an hour of study time each day could put their children at a disadvantage.

Liu Hong, an associate researcher at the Fudan Development Institute, said abolishing morning reading sessions should be seen as part of a broader effort to implement a "health first" education philosophy.

"Current academic pressure on students is a systemic issue," she said. "Simply adjusting arrival times is too narrow an approach."

On one hand, schools must avoid canceling morning reading in name only while shifting pressure to other times. Teaching tasks should not be moved to after-school hours, which would increase homework and force students to stay up late, undermining the goal of protecting sleep.

On the other hand, reducing the burden should not be mistaken for relaxing academic management, she said.

Parents' attitudes have shifted from concern to acceptance. Li, a father in Hefei, Anhui province, said the quality of learning has improved since later start times were introduced.

His child sleeps nearly an hour longer, eats breakfast at a more relaxed pace, and is more focused in class, he told Anhui-based Dawan News.