UK Schools Removing Analog Clocks In Exam Halls As Students Struggle To Read Time

Dec 04, 2019 by apost team

Should we be at all surprised to learn that kids today are having trouble reading analog clocks? Unless their parents have these types of clocks hanging on the walls of their homes, why would the children ever need to use them to tell time? So even if someone teaches them how to read an analog clock, the children might quickly forget again if they never get any real practice.

This has become so much of an issue that a lot of teachers in the UK have taken down analog clocks in classrooms and replaced them with digital clocks.

Do you remember your early years of elementary school? You likely have fond memories of learning the alphabet, coloring page after page of superhero characters and, last but not least, learning how to use an analog clock to tell the time.

Today, kids need to learn how to navigate a smartphone and computer. It's a truly digital age. So it comes as no surprise that most kids look at a digital clock when they need to tell the time. Not only is the number going to be on their smartphones, but they can also find it on their laptops and tablets.

apost.com

Many teachers in the UK have taken down analog clocks because they are afraid that students would otherwise waste too much time wondering what time it is. Or they believe students will stress themselves trying to figure out how much longer they have before they need to turn in their exams. 

Stephanie Keenan, a teacher at a High School in north-west London, said after many students complained that they could not tell the time with an analog clock the school installed digital clocks in the exam hall.

This was confirmed by Malcolm Trobe, the deputy general secretary at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), who told The Telegraph, “You don’t want [the students] to put their hand up to ask how much time is left.”

Check out the video below to see how much of a problem it has become:

Do your kids know how to read an analog clock? Leave us a comment below, and pass this along when you are done!