Proposed time change would be so disruptive

ENGLISH Schools Foundation primary school principals have recently tabled a proposal to the ESF that, with the installation of air-conditioning throughout the schools, the shortened summer hours should be abolished. This is just what the parents had been anticipating and hoping for.

However, rather than take the obvious and reasonable step of equating summer hours with current winter hours, thus increasing them to a 3 pm finish throughout the year, the principals' proposal suggests revising the school day completely, with school finishing at 2 pm throughout the year. This would severely disrupt the very successful routine currently followed during the ''winter'' months, and although some time lost would be made up by an earlier start and shorter breaks, the advantages of lunch-time activities and full afternoon lessons, would be lost.

As concerned parents, we see no reason winter hours cannot be adopted throughout the year in order to give our children the full and balanced education for which we are paying.

Although we recognise that quality does not equate with quantity, we would point out that ESF teacher-pupil contact hours (at least 878 per annum) are already below the recommended minimum for UK primary schools (at least 893 pa), as well as most of the international schools in Hongkong. This disparity assumes greater significance when it becomes clear that, unlike the UK schools, the ESF total already includes some 45 hours per year of lunch supervision.

At a time when the Governor has stated that ''wherever possible, all new primary schools (will) operate on a wholly-day basis from September 1993 (Our Next Five Years, October 7, 1992), we must ask why the ESF primary principals are advocating a proposalwhich does not comply with this policy.

The ESF has asked the parents to express their views via the Parent Teacher Association Executive Committees and the School Councils. However both bodies, for some of the schools, seem particularly reluctant to give the parents the chance to show any preference for extended school hours, or to freely express their wishes at all.

We would therefore urge parents with strong views on this matter to address them directly to the ESF Chairman, Mr Ken Woodhouse.

At least our views will then be heard by those with the power to act on them.

CONCERNED ESF PARENTS (names and addresses supplied)