By Veena Bharwani

THEY are the envy of parents with children in primary schools where there are two sessions - morning and afternoon.

Reason: Their children are studying in Bukit View Primary School (BVPS) which went single session in 2001.

This has meant more time for family, enrichment classes and bonding.

Mothers like Mrs Jill Ong have never had the problem of two schedules, one for a child in the morning session and another for another child in the afternoon.

Instead, her sons get to spend more time together because both attend single morning sessions.

Said Mrs Ong, 40, a homemaker: 'Since my elder son, Jerald, finishes at 1.30pm and my younger son finishes at noon, they get to spend a lot of time together in the afternoon.

'If Jerald was in the afternoon session, this would not have been possible.' (See graphic, above.)

Currently, about 40 per cent, or 71 out of the 179 primary schools in Singapore, are single session.

The Education Ministry announced recently that it wants all schools to eventually become single session.

The Primary Education Review and Implementation (Peri) Committee, headed by Senior Minister of State for Education Grace Fu, is looking into the feasibility and implementation of the idea.

A major issue will be school bus operators, who are not happy with the single session concept as they make earlier trips for school children, and later ones in the morning for factory workers.

Relaxing

Currently, schools which start later either have small enrolment or have engaged operators with bigger fleets that can cope with both groups of passengers.

But if a solution is found, then there would be more happy parents like Mr Alvaro Sanchez.

Like Mrs Ong, Mr Sanchez's 8-year-old daughter has her weekday afternoons free because she attends a single session school.

So she makes use of the time to play the piano and the harp.

Another parent, homemaker Rita Toh, 39, said that since her daughter is in school in the mornings, she has time to improve herself through enrichment courses.

After that, she gets to spend time with the girl and prepare dinner for her family.

She undergoes a parent-facilitated course organised by Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) every Wednesday.

And, like Mrs Ong, she, too, is a parent volunteer at BVPS.

Her husband, Mr Toh Thiam Boon, 39, who is in sales and works from home, gets to have lunch and dinner with his family.

Mrs Toh said: 'My daughter is home by 2pm and we all have lunch together.

'It is a time for all of us to bond. Even dinners are more relaxing.

'If she were in the afternoon session, she would have to rush home for dinner and the whole process would be more stressful as she also has to finish homework and get ready for the next day.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on Oct 16, 2008.