Primary students say goodbye to napping on desks

Students raising their hands in class. [File photo/Xinhua]

Many parents of lower-grade primary school students are concerned about whether their children will adapt to study, as their noon nap habits can hardly be carried out in a classroom, affecting their afternoon performance.

But the Hangzhou Danfeng Experimental Primary School in East China's Zhejiang province has reassured parents as it innovatively prepares 12 "sleeping rooms" for each first and second-grade class, as well as pillows and blankets for each student, the Qianjiang Evening News reports.

The sleeping rooms, which are as big as a classroom, are covered with foam pads. Children can enjoy a 50-minute noon nap until 1:05 pm after laying down on their pillows and blankets.

Every sleeping room has a teacher attending. Teachers will pacify naughty children or tuck sleeping students in quilts. If some students are unwilling to sleep, they are allowed to read books on the condition that they do not bother others.

Cao Xiaohong, Principal of the primary school, said school teachers disagreed with students napping on desks, as many do in other schools, because it was unhealthy.

Two years ago, a first grade primary student in Zhejiang reportedly went to hospital complaining of cervical vertebra aches. The diagnosis revealed a dislocation of her cervical spine and the doctor thought it was related to her long-term napping on desks.

"The school moved to a new building this year and there are enough spare classrooms," Cao said.

Since sleeping on the ground would likely lead to students catching a cold during cooler weather, the sleeping rooms will only open in May, June, September and October.