CCA is consuming too much time and interfering with students' weekly schedules. Students have to struggle handling schoolwork, tuition and possibly other outside activities. Some students even have two CCAs or other school commitments. Their numerous CCA sessions are giving them little time to catch up in their studies or to rest.

An overload of CCA sessions does not only give students less time for other activities, it also tires them out. Students come home late from school after a long and tedious CCA session, stricken of energy and motivation to complete assignments and catch up in their studies. The lack of time to rest can also take a toll on their mental health.

As schools become more competitive, they would want to train students more to ensure that they excel in their CCA and bring their school to glory. But I think that increasing the number of training sessions will make life harder for students. I feel that schools should take a step back, and decrease CCA training time. (225)

This brings me to the question: why do schools in Singapore insist on starting at the crack of dawn? In most schools, students are to report at 7:30am, which means waking up at 6.00am or earlier. Lessons start at 8:00am, and the sight that usually greets these first period teachers is a sea of students sprawled across their desks. 

Not only is this demoralising for teachers, these lethargic students also do not absorb the information, leading to an hour of general unproductivity. It is proven that adolescents develop a two-hour delay in their circadian rhythm at the onset of puberty, which leads to them falling asleep at later times. 

The education system is not only intense, but it is also highly rigorous, and many of my own classmates, including myself, feel perpetually exhausted. Later start times will allow students to get more sleep each night, even as they maintain their current bedtime. There is evidence showing that students who sleep more are able to focus better in class and obtain better grades. As such, there is no reason why schools cannot take into consideration the changes that adolescents undergo in their body clock and have later start times. 240 words