Every morning on a school day feels like a race against the sunrise. Before the first rays of light even reach the streets, an alarm is already blaring, leaving students with barely enough time to shake off drowsiness before rushing through traffic just to make it to their first class at 6 am.
Like many Filipino students, we often blame ourselves for struggling to stay awake during the first few hours of school and even throughout the day. But science suggests that the problem may not be laziness or a lack of discipline at all.
If our bodies are biologically wired to sleep longer and wake later during adolescence, then perhaps it is time for the Philippines to rethink whether its early school schedules truly serve students’ learning and well-being.
Blame biology, not students
Research consistently establishes that adolescents undergo a natural shift in their biological clocks during puberty, known as a delayed sleep phase. Because the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin is released later in the evening, many teens do not feel sleepy until around 10 or 11 pm, making it biologically difficult to fall asleep early and wake before dawn. This delayed sleep pattern in a teen’s internal body clock is a normal developmental change, not a sign of laziness or poor discipline and willpower.
When early school schedules conflict with teens’ circadian rhythms, chronic sleep deprivation becomes almost inevitable. The consequences carry into the classroom: insufficient sleep impairs attention, memory, decision-making, and emotional regulation, leading to poorer academic performance and increased risks of mental health problems.
Recognizing these biological realities, several countries have adopted later school start times, which have led to promising results. In the United States, delayed start times have been associated with longer sleep duration, better attendance, reduced daytime sleepiness, and modest improvements in academic performance. Likewise, longer sleep duration and reduced fatigue were reported in South Korea after implementing later school schedules, although academic outcomes varied depending on implementation.
If students in countries that have widely adopted these policies have reaped their benefits, why should Filipino scholars, who often face even greater daily burdens, settle for less?
When it rains, it pours
The challenge of waking up early also transcends the biological aspect into systematic burdens not considered. With traffic congestion regularly plaguing thoroughfares during the morning rush that starts as early as 6 am, many students find themselves waking up as early as 4 am to attend a class that does not begin until three hours later.
As the country enters the rainy season, these difficulties intensify. In a nation with a volatile climate and fragile flood control systems, early school schedules leave students with even less sleep during inclement weather. There are also associated health risks when students wade through polluted waters and hazardous conditions instead of waiting for floodwaters to recede.
Yet, these risks do not end when traffic and floodwaters subside. When the sun sets and sleep should be in order, many students have just arrived home after long hours of commuting. Some are working part-time jobs to make ends meet, while others have to take on household responsibilities. All these are compounded with another round of preparation for the next day. The biological need for sleep among Filipino students collides with the economic and social demands of living in a country where more than one-third of households are considered poor.
Coupled with an early school schedule, these instances only promote persistent sleep deprivation. Filipinos are already considered the most sleepless people in Asia, according to a 2023 study by consumer research and data analytics company Milieu Insight. Studies also report that disrupted circadian cycles contribute to social isolation and limited engagement with complex topics in the classroom, further worsening the widely recognized learning crisis in the Philippines.
Learn smarter, not harder
Having such an early school schedule that leaves no room for other responsibilities, a frail and underserving infrastructure, and insufficient wellness checks are signs that the Philippine education system was not designed for sincere learning and success. It is instead built to manufacture career-ready students at the cost of their health and well-being.
When sleep is consistently inadequate and stress is constantly severe, not only will crucial growth through puberty be impaired, but there will also be compounded consequences later in adulthood. Collective research from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention demonstrates that sufficient sleep can be key to preventing chronic diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases and immune system complications.
With this, the common surface-level outlook of having “more discipline” or “creating willpower,” in addition to the tendency to glorify the lack of sleep, to get through the school day would do little to nothing against bigger, systemic failures in declining literacy and broken transportation. More so, resisting the biology of the adolescent body would not only hinder bodily development, but also overall learning progress.
Therefore, it is time to reassess how much time, in the literal sense, students spend inside the classroom and compare it to their ability to absorb information, especially in the first half of the morning. While the Philippine context differs from that of other countries, it would be beneficial to understand the strengths of starting classes later and gain perspective on improving the state of our education.
Starting earlier to have more time in school amid accumulating systemic issues creates the illusion of a promise of learning more. Having more time to learn does not equate to more learning. Going against the tides of biology would mean dismissing the essential component of engaging in the classroom. If our education system learns to prioritize the cognitive and well-being aspects of student learning, then we would have a more educated Philippines.