China's schools ditch morning reading

Schools are now scrapping those early morning sessions and letting kids sleep in.

“The supporters call it a win for rest and focus. Critics, though, fear grades could suffer. Does earlier actually mean better?”

Coming to you live from our studios in Beijing. This is roundtable. I'm Steve. Thank you very much for joining us today. And for the show, I'm with Yushan and Shinyu.

First up, for decades and decades. One sound defined the Chinese school morning.

Students reading aloud often in unison in the classrooms. But this spring, that sound is fading. Across the country, schools are gradually canceling mandatory morning reading sessions, probably to the delight of many students, and starting the day a little bit later. While some see this as a positive step towards protecting students sleep and improving learning efficiency, others remain cautious, worried that maybe its impact will be poor on academic outcomes. Is it finally time, though, to rethink the idea that earlier means better in education?

Jingyun and Yushan, good afternoon to you both. I guess, and we're going to get into it.

But I guess I can see both sides. The side that would say, "Oh, yeah!" No more morning reading sessions at school, and the side two that would say, "Wait a minute, those reading sessions are a great benefit to the students." Yes, I guess morning readings, yeah, they are part of my middle school life back like two decades ago, maybe. And I think the tradition of morning reading can be traced back to like ancient China, because in traditional private schools and academies, these early mornings have already existed.

“I think you should maybe you have seen some of these historical dramas where there's in this private school and kids, they were citing the tax, and they're moving their head in circles and the teacher will be hearing”

maybe the poems or whatever they are reciting. Well, for those who don't know, paint us a picture here. So the typical class, I guess it's different from school to school or region to region, but class typically starts at say, "Let's say 8 a.m." Okay, so reading time would start at 7, 30, around 7, 30, and for I said in the beginning decades and decades, but by the sounds of things, it's much longer than that. We might be saying centuries and centuries.

But basically, let's say the first class starts at 8 a.m. or mostly I think 9 a.m. and then a schools will require students to be at school.

Maybe around 7, 32, 8, and then during that period of time, students or teachers are requiring students to read something. Mostly English or Chinese poems or like recite some vocabulary or something like that.

“Oh, so it's a little bit different every day, maybe?”

Yeah, it will have kind of a schedule when maybe it is important exam time for English subject or then Chinese. And also it is, as you said, is a kind of a tradition that has been there for a while with that kind of mindset of having the, you know, the based on like that kind of wisdom that, Chinese, you're a juzzi, you know, which means the whole day's work depends on a good start in the morning. Okay. It's probably, I think that makes sense because you have a better memory when you are doing reciting in the morning.

So it is students in unison, right? So there will be, it's not sitting in silence and reading whatever novel it is you like to read. It's not that it's something from the coursework and the students will all read out loud together. Yeah, usually it's reading out loud together. And in some cases, the teachers will sometimes the louder the better. And so schools will even have competitions like supervisors will all walk along the aisle and to see which classroom reads the loudest and they will have a ranking.

That was hilarious. So somebody walks around and gives us score whoever's the loudest wins. That's fun. All right. So now that we know exactly how this happens, let's find out how it is disappearing. What's going on? What's changing here? Yeah. So starting from this spring semester, many primary and secondary schools across China, they have officially canceled this mandatory unified morning reading sessions.

So that middle school canceled the morning reading for three junior high grades.

“Great. So seven grade eight grade on. So all the whole school. Yeah.”

And so students now arrive no earlier than 7.50 a.m. for an 8 a.m. start. Just 10 minutes before classes start. And yeah, that's so so applies to other cities like Ningbo in East China's Zhoujiang province and also Guangdong province.

Also Nanjing and Nanjing in East China's Jiangsu province as well.

What's the reason? I mean, this has been around for a very, very, very, very, very long time.

“As starting from you said middle school and you just mentioned a couple of middle schools, you know, but does it start as early as elementary school or even before?”

Yeah, if the elementary school has this kind of morning reading, which mostly have. Okay. And actually this policy, it's been there for a while.

And these kind of changes are kind of a direct response to the ministries of the Ministry of Education's policies aimed at protecting students health and also ensuring

effective studying because a 2021 notice actually established that primary schools should generally not start classes before 8 20 a.m. And middle schools before 8 a.m. And then there is a update in 2025 further reinforced that schools must not require students to arrive earlier for organized teaching activities such as these kind of units and morning reading sessions and should ensure sufficient lunch break time while we're impossible. Hmm. And there's research to back up the reasons for this move.

Addiquit sleep, they say, is vital for brain development or physical recovery and it enhances memory and learning efficiency. And then many students previously arrived at school in a state of zombie. I'm guessing because, you know, they'll stay up late at night playing their games or whatever it is that's finishing their homework. Yeah, or finishing their homework, right? And they call it this leads to kind of this zombie state in the morning where long hours of study or whatever it is that they were doing before the night the night before results in pretty low efficiency.

And maybe not so effective when it comes to the absorption of knowledge at 7 30 a.m. Yes, especially for these primary and secondary school students, they need time to sleep. I mean, sufficient sleep. So by delaying the start time of this class students and also the time to arrive at school students can have, I guess, more sleep and also.

“I think that the long hours of study doesn't necessarily equate efficiency study efficiency. So that's why I think the schools are launching this measure to to advocate and also improve students study efficiency.”

Actually, totally brand new because Shanghai as kind of a reform pioneer, if you will, they introduced delayed school arrivals as early as 2007 that's almost 20 years ago. And at that time, it was to require primary schools to start collective activities after 18 15 a.m. in middle schools after 8 a.m. similar to what we're talking about here in 2026. And at that time, it was done for the same reasons now to better protect students sleep. Yeah, as as I said, this is not something really that new because similar guidelines existed previously and they are not like they're now being more strictly enforced with like some kind of constraints including cooperating sleep.

Managementing to school evaluations to prevent schools from using like these kind of tactics to bypass regulations because Shanghai is an example, they they have doing these kind of pioneering things and I've also seen some of parents from Shanghai saying that my child has to go to school at around 6 10 a.m. Yes, as early as 6 10 even something some regions I've seen because this is the kind of a big news right and some parents are commenting online giving out different views. So, one example is Shanghai 6 10 a.m. and some high schools in Hunan even require arrival as early as 5 45.

But, and other regions like Jews young, young, swishan high they are also but they're not that they're laid back. Yeah, you can tell through some of the like impressions, but still on like they have that kind of same situation in the sense of going to school. Okay, so we know that it's not a nationwide thing or it wasn't a nationwide thing right this depends on the school or the district or the region within the country some students unfortunately had to go to school at 5 45 a.m.

“I cannot for the life of me figure out why that early but it did exist others you go to 2007 Shanghai made some changes but it sounds like from maybe 2007 up until now you mentioned the word loopholes now loophole in this context I think would mean.”

Well it could mean many different things but getting the students to come to the school early before the classes actually begin and one of those loopholes I read might be well you don't have to come for the morning reading session it's not mandatory. Then there's that pressure right because you know right because you know some students are going to go when it's not mandatory and then that puts pressure on the other students to go so that's the kind of loophole apparently that some schools would use.

They're not strictly they weren't strictly enforcing the reading session or other morning activities but they kind of were if if you know what I mean public opinion let's talk about that you said there's a lot of comments online a lot of parents sharing their opinions exactly.

“Yeah parents are probably the most divided group regarding this cancellation of this unified morning reading of course there are some parents they are really supporting.”

This measure so many parents they have expressed their immense relief finally their kids can have enough sleep and also some parents report that their children no longer have to fight a battle or to struggle every morning to only to get out of bed to go to school at that early of time in the day and their kids can now enjoy a proper relaxed breakfast and get nearly an extra hour of sleep. And many of these parents also observe that when these children they are better rested they have better sleep and then they are more refreshed and they also show significantly higher concentration during these class hours so they're able to maybe sit longer during the day because for these students they have to from probably eight in the morning to like five p.m. in the afternoon they are sitting a long time during the day.

So they kind of that kind of sufficient to rest can ensure that they have better concentration to focus on study.

Okay I want to hear your thoughts about the support side of this the parents who say it's extra rest for the students their concentration levels seem to be increased their tolerance for studying long hours long consecutive hours has increased and maybe just a spiritual boost as well. Maybe just a little bit happier overall what are your thoughts about that. I completely yeah I'm 100% like pro and support of this measure myself because I was one of those students like getting up really early in the morning and I had to go to school and join other students for this morning reading.

I'm really excited to see how many of these students are sitting there but they are daydreaming.

They didn't have much sleep so that long hours doesn't necessarily mean they are like getting a high grade for these tests or whatever so probably maybe these students health and well being comes like first. And then the students like scores just because they're sitting in the chair in the classroom taking part in the activity doesn't mean they are present.

“Right so if that's the case what's the point of the activity okay what do you think you should.”

About the support side I understand it because as you said even maybe spiritually students feel that I can go to school later and that will make students actually happy and then maybe have a better mood have a better.

Good morning reading session helps their like children or students getting to that kind of learning mindset and re also reading force their memory or they worry that canceling in my conflict with their own work schedules that also makes sense because you have that kind of period of time to make yourself even though you are not reading you are like trying to remind yourself I am going to.

“Okay so the yeah let's switch now to the other side of the coin the parents who are against this you mentioned that they might be worried that.”

The students are losing an opportunity to learn something the morning reading session is about 20 minutes is that accurate almost 20 to 30 minutes okay but they're arguing that if that disappears then that opportunity disappears I think another argument.

would be that even though it's only 20 or 30 minutes in the morning let's say it's English vocabulary time for example that's maybe the only opportunity during the day that many students might have.

to practice or learn their English vocabulary or if you want to talk about reciting ancient Chinese poetry or whatever which is important right that's a that's an important thing in school if they don't do it then then when are they going to do it then when are they going to have an opportunity because their evening schedule their afternoon schedule is too jam packed and they're not going to do this before they go to bed at night I know my kid they just won't. So what's the big deal I'm arguing from this parents point of view what's the big deal if you show up 30 minutes earlier in the morning for a passive activity right you just kind of reading aloud with the 30 other students in the classroom well it's the big deal about keeping this what do you think about that.

“I think there's definitely anxious parents out there who might think that if we cut that 30 minutes of recitation and memorization in the morning then.”

Then what if my child falls behind I mean 30 minutes a day but if we look at the whole semester the whole year then how much of knowledge absorption we have missed right how many hours is that over the course of a year. Yes, but that's the perspective of an adult have you ever consider about your child his or her own feelings about studying is he or she really they want it do they want it but what if let's say just what if they want it they need that having our two maybe memorize a little bit more from maybe yesterday or like me I need that 30 minutes to finish my homework in the morning but don't learn from me.

“Anyway that period of time allows you to get into class and maybe have a little warm up on the content that you're going to study.”

But as anxious parents I mean you are passing that anxiety to your children because every time you are telling your child to get up early in the morning and you have to go to school to start your morning reading to recite the text that means your child has to follow what you said and that anxiety is passed out on to him or her. Okay, but that anxiety and again I'm playing devil's advocate here that anxiety might have a justified root because let's say that your kid doesn't take extra tutoring classes they don't go to an academy.

The only that we'll stick with English but it could be anything the only English they learn is from the English in school. Now what if the child sitting next to them does go to an academy does have a private tutor outside of the school.

Then your fear in your anxiety as a parent is justified because your child is going to fall behind in their minds further and further and further every day.

Yeah, I've also seen comments online from some of these parents saying that if you want to sleeping if you want more sleep time okay you can you can choose not to go but you should not just require all students to lose the opportunity to make use of the reading morning reading.

Does it have to be a school I mean at your home if you as a kid you like study you can study whatever you are. Thank you for the transition because that's what I want to talk about next I want to talk about the families there are a lot of dual income families.

“And what that means is the parents are both out of there it's a pretty strict schedule and the morning kid gets up at this time parents get up at this time make breakfast time is from this time to this time everybody gets out of the house.”

You go. Now 30 minutes is a big adjustment if a parent needs to be at the office themselves or if they need to beat rush hour traffic is there any angle here is that what parents are talking about.

Of course I think it's challenging for these dual income families for these parents you have to drop off your children at the school so if we like to late school starts time then it means for these parents they have to juggle their schedule as well because you have to like sending your children to school and then after make it to your work to your office on time. That means another challenge and also maybe in the morning because that would mean you're increased like morning child care for your children so that also some at some burden on these parents.

Our school gates open regardless i mean for the parents who if they needed to take their kid to school at the same time not later then even though there's no morning reading sessions anymore with the school gates still be open for the schools to or for the students to to enter. There is a like earliest time that school gate is opened it's actually managed by some security guard by of the school so but they will be really really early around i think is six but there is a limit of time because for safety concern most of the primary in middle schools will be closed when students don't need to go.

I see okay now that's the parents let's talk about the schools what about their perspective how have they responded to this.

“I think for these schools yeah they're also like some of the division here because they are definitely some teachers they still believe that this type of morning reading has cognitive benefits.”

We've talked about the morning is consider the best time for memorization and contemplation and also for these language especially like Chinese and English they think it's the best time for them to develop their skills to develop a sense of language.

So I was curious about that and I went to the association for psychological science to see what they had to say.

This is it quote based on the available scientific evidence the claim that morning is universally the optimal time for oral recitation and mental reflection is not factually accurate while the morning can be a peak time for certain cognitive functions the relationship between time of day and mental performance is far more complex. Best time depends on the specific task the individual's internal clock and other factors the scientific consensus points to a phenomenon known as the synchrony effect. Meaning that's not necessarily true that the morning time is the best time for your brain to absorb tons of information it depends on the student it depends on what the student is doing at that particular time according to the association for psychological science.

“Maybe that's the psychological effect because I really think that is very effective and maybe it's because we all I have that kind of mindset of that deep tradition of the morning is the best time and then I will have the.”

The comforting mindset of this is the time that I should do the reciting also another another time is before bad so before bad and also after getting up in the morning these are the best time that you can recite and memorize things and during this period of time the brain will give me a signal that. The most efficient time that you can do it and then I may be really being very efficient. But you're saying is that it's not scientifically proven but when you are told that the morning is the best time to recite then you believe that that is the truth.

Students are sorry schools are are also saying this or at least some educators.

I think that they shouldn't use a simple what they called a simple and crude deletion method to solve the problem instead they're advocating for something different turning the time into a five minute interest based warm up or watching current affairs news like the morning news to spark interest rather than forcing some sort of memorization.

“What do you think about that? Turn on the morning news in the classroom and just sit there and watch the news.”

Yeah, I was just putting myself into the shoes of these young students when the in the class.

The morning news is being played on TV. Would I be that interested in watching the news or I don't know from adults perspective it can be a process for these young students to form a certain habit of like. Have this basic access to news and to keep up with the news every single day, but I don't know if for these children they might be interested. I think they will be more than pleased because first of all they don't need to read and then they have they got TV to watch. That's the I think the single or simple reason that they can fall in another one is that they we are creating a channel for them to of course forcing them to watch the news, but still even though I don't want to I have that at least a channel to know what is happening every day.

Yeah, I've taught high school students before let me tell you and nobody watching the news at seven thirty okay in the morning. Now I think we're kind of skipping over the main point here going back to the ministry of education because they're they're not denying the value of morning reading the ministry is not saying it's completely useless. Therefore we're getting rid of it. They're not saying that at all what they are saying is schools need to prioritize the health and mental well being an emotional well being of their students and they need to improve overall teaching efficiency that is what the ministry of education is saying.

So I think that kind of gets lost a little bit with parents maybe online making their arguments for or making their arguments against.

“I think they're missing the point a little bit that the ministry isn't saying this is totally useless they're just saying maybe this isn't the best thing for the students in the morning.”

The argument in my opinion the argument of removing the morning reading time will allow the students more sleep in the morning maybe. But if I'm a 14 year old kid and I know well I can wake up 45 minutes later tomorrow morning that means I can sleep 45 minutes later at night true right. So on paper these arguments for arguments against are quite strong in practicality I'm not exactly sure how this is going to play out but it seems like a more flexible educational model is what everyone's looking for here.

Yes, I totally agree that there's no one size fits all solution for these education models. For instance, like the Chengdu Lewe middle school that I mentioned before it opens his gates at 7 a.m. for these early birds who want to engage in these volunteer reading or self study sessions.

“Under teacher supervision but their class will not begin until 8 a.m. so I think for these schools also they are trying to search for a measure for all of these students not mandatory but voluntary to find a way that suits every kid as a person.”

And also I think it is also reflecting that now parents and maybe educators concerned show that the academic pressure hasn't just gone away because even though you cancel that some people think I lost the time or opportunity of study early. So as long as exam focused systems remain or that kind of rigid mindset is there reducing study time can still spark fears and also falling behind so success depends not just on shorter schedules but on I think better teaching and more efficient learning.

That you're actually not in support of this removal you kind of got me.

Yeah, maybe it's because I didn't suffer from that kind of morning reading session one thing is that I can finish my homework another thing is that maybe I just I got used to getting up early when I was in middle school and I can actually use that time to maybe not only reciting but also.

“Checking out some of the subject. I don't want to I doubt that really.”

But I know what you mean. Yeah, just use it wisely it allows for, you know, if you show up to the school at 7.50 a.m. and your classes start at eight.

Then there's no time to kind of slowly unfolding to your day yeah, but if you're there at 7.30 you have a half an hour to do. Or at least let your brain wake up. Yes, I see both.

“Yeah, but I like the message that's been out there from the nation.”

I mean, a student's campus life cannot solely focus on scores or tests.

It should be a well-rounded development. We should care about their holistic growth. Yeah, and I actually looked this up too because I was thinking, this is kind of like vitamin C to me in a day.

“You know, if you take too much vitamin C, if you take a certain amount of vitamin C, it's good for your body. If you take too much, it can be bad for you.”

It can be bad for your kidneys and other things. I was kind of thinking of that because if you just put a student in a chair in the morning and say, here absorb this knowledge. You won't work. It doesn't necessarily work and you're just making them more tired and more stressed and more anxious. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I guess it's not a simple solution, but looking ahead, it does seem like there is a potential transition in China's education system from an emphasis on

perhaps time investment, at least to a little bit more focus on learning efficiency to the introduction of more adaptive models. You gave a couple of examples of what schools are doing. And I guess we're just going to feel out stage right now. We'll see how we go with this for a little while and who knows, maybe it will be brought back in 12 months time.