According to the Children Welfare League Foundation, Taiwanese students sleep 6.9 hours a night on average when they should be sleeping at least eight hours every night. The reason why students stay up late is mainly due to heavy school work loads.

To make matters worse, most Taiwanese students study in cram schools until nine or ten PM after school. When they finally get home, they have to spend another three or four hours finishing their homework, previewing, reviewing, and waking up before 7:30 AM the next day. Consequently, students are not able to get eight hours of sleep.

A lack of sleep not only leads to dozing in class but also slows learning and inhibits memory. Sleep is also crucial for growth and development. However, the toxic culture surrounding Taiwanese education makes sleeping a luxury students can’t afford.

To fix this problem, schools should give students less homework and fewer tests so kids can sleep more.

Schools can help by giving fewer tests

The goal of tests is to check students’ understanding. However, when students have to stay up late and study for multiple tests at the same time, they won’t remember the content. Even if students do pass the tests, they will forget everything they studied for.

Schools should prioritize students’ sleep over studying because students will understand ideas better and remember what they learn. I am not saying that schools should ban tests, but schools should regulate the number of tests each week to ensure that students are sleeping enough.

Schools can help by giving less homework

Homework is a great way for students to strengthen their understanding and to help them retain what they have learned. Most teachers feel like an hour per day of homework is reasonable. However, if all teachers assign an hour per day, that means students might have five, six, or seven hours of homework each night. This is clearly too much, and when students sacrifice their sleep to finish their homework marathon, they will not be able to focus in class the next day.

When schools give too much homework, homework loses its purpose and causes students to learn less effectively. One solution provided by the National Education Association is for students to study for ten minutes per grade level. So, a student in second grade should do 20 minutes of homework per evening. However, if a student is in 12th grade, they could be expected to do up to two hours. This gives students enough assignments to review concepts while not putting too much stress on them.

If students have more than ten minutes of homework or studying per grade, the school should also reflect on whether they are educating children effectively. In a school that engages students and sparks their learning, students should not have to study on their own for too long.

My experience

I am a victim of Taiwan’s unhealthy education culture. I spend around five hours studying every day and don’t get to sleep until midnight or even later. When I sleep for less than eight hours, I fall asleep in school. Then I don’t focus in class, so I have to stay up even later to review more, finish my homework, prepare for upcoming tests, and the cycle continues.

I loathe this unhealthy and stressful loop, and all other students feel the same way. If schools limit the amount of tests and homework given, they will free students from this system that makes studying bitter rather than interesting.