This is Roundtable.
The sound of students reading aloud at near dawn has echoed through Chinese schools for generations.
But not anymore.
Schools are now scrapping those early morning sessions
and letting kids sleep in. 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 Yuxian and Xingyun.
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,
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?