Antigua and Barbuda’s Ministry of Education is set to kick off a series of public consultation sessions in January to gather community input on a sweeping policy proposal that would standardize a 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. instructional schedule for all primary and secondary schools across the twin-island nation. The proposed reform was first publicly unveiled by Education Minister Daryll Matthew during a recent appearance on the popular local Browne and Browne radio talk show, where he responded directly to a listener query about the longstanding, widely criticized early 1:30 p.m. dismissal time that remains in place for most secondary institutions nationwide. If implemented, the new schedule would represent a significant shift for secondary school students, who currently begin their academic days at 8 a.m.: they would start their first period one full hour later, and wrap up all structured school activities a full 90 minutes after their existing end time. Minister Matthew emphasized that the policy is rooted in two key community-focused priorities: first, it would drastically cut down on the severe peak-hour traffic congestion that clogs residential and school zone roads during early morning drop-off windows, and second, it would eliminate the large gap of unsupervised after-school time that leaves thousands of young children and teens at home alone for hours while their guardians remain at their workplaces. The minister also noted that a prior limited pilot program testing extended school hours delivered promising results, creating dedicated, structured time for students to participate in a wider range of extracurricular offerings including sports, arts, academic tutoring, and career skill-building workshops that many schools previously lacked the scheduling bandwidth to support. Ahead of making any final binding decision on rolling out the new schedule system-wide, the Ministry of Education will host a series of open town hall meetings across all constituencies to collect feedback from parents, teachers, school administrators, students, transport operators, and other key stakeholders, with the option to revise the proposal or extend deliberations further if the community raises unforeseen concerns.