Dr.
Abdalle
UNIT 5
THE SCHOOL TIME – TABLE
Meaning of School Time- Table
School time- table is one of the important records which a school is required to complete the
teaching and learning activities in the school. A school time- table can be defined as a schedule
prepared b y the school management indicating the subjects to b e taught per day and per week,
the time allocated for each subject as well as the number of periods per subject, per day and per
week in a particular school. Ob i (2001) defines school time-tab le as a plan of action in which
the subjects of the school curriculum are distributed over the teaching period s of the school day
of the weeks that make up academic sessions.
Types of time-ta ble
There are three main types of time table
(i) General Time-Table: this comprises the whole school time-table, the various classes and
various levels drawn for the school by a designated staff or committee under the supervision of
the school head . It is usually drawn and d is played in the office of the school head and/the
assistant. General time-tab le is a comprehensive time-table that consists of all the time-tab les of
the different classes of the school.
(ii) Class Time-Table: this type of time-table is meant for a particular class, it is extracted from
the general time tab le and it is usually drawn/d is played on the wall, besides the class
chalkboard or in a conspicuous p lace in a particular class.
(iii) Individual Time-Table: this is a time- table prepared by individual student to guide his or her
personal reading and learning per d ay, per week. It is usually prepared by very few students.
Importance of School Time-Table
The following are the reasons wh y timetable is a must in a school organization:
i. it assists the teachers to know what subject, what time and which class to teach,
ii. it assists the students to know which books and other learning materials to take along to school
daily,
iii. it assists the students to know when a particular lesson will be taught and who will teach it,
iv. it eliminates possible clashes in the teaching schedules, thereby preventing unhealthy rivalry
among the teachers in the school,
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v. it ensures maximum utilization of time resources available for subject teaching and learning,
vi it assists in the implementation of curriculum through well planned teaching and
learning activities,
vii. it makes it possible to bring together the school subjects and other resources human
(teachers), physical facilities (classrooms) and other supporting facilities to achieve the goals of
the school, and
viii. it remind s the students of the assignment which could have been ordinarily be forgotten and
when to sub mit the assignment.
Guidelines for Construction of a School Time-Table
The school head must be guided b y some guidelines in constructing a school time-tab le, so also
the officer/group of people/committee who is/are in charge of the school time. If the time-table is
to serve the intended purposes, the following guidelines must b e followed:
i. Allocation of Periods: periods should be allocated to subjects based on their importance.
English Language and Mathematics are allocated the highest numeric periods in the week when
compared with other subjects because these are the basic necessary subjects and pre- requisites
for any institution of higher learning admission requirement.
ii. Scheduling of the Subjects: the nature of the subject will determine when it will feature on
the time-tab le. Subjects that need full concentration and that involve calculation such as
Mathematic and Principles of Accounts should feature in the mornings on the time-table, so also
subjects with practical that must be done on the field/in the farm such as Physical & Health
Education and Agricultural Science are better in the mornings than afternoon when the weather
becomes hot.
iii. Lengths of the Period: the age of the students and the nature of the subject should be
considered to in determining whether a subject will be for a period per day and the number of
times such a subject will appear in a week.
iv. Arrangement of the Subjects: the nature of the subjects should b e taken into consideration
when drawing the time- table. Subjects that require practical sessions such as Woodwork,
Typewriting, Home Economics, and Fine Art should not be fixed close to some subjects that
require physical activities such as Physical & Health Education and Agriculture practical.
v. Break Period: there is government regulation guiding the break period. This is
the stand ard practice and should not be deviated from by any school or the timetable
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committee.
vi. Available Space: the available space in form of classroom, laboratories, lib rary etc. should
be considered by the time-table committee at the construction stage.
The sp ace determines the number of students that a class can contain.
vii. Availability of Teaching Staff: the numb er of the teaching staff in a school must be
considered when constructing a school time-table.
viii Availability of Supporting Facilities: availability of supporting facilities should be taken
into consideration when preparing the school time tab le. Supporting facilities such as non-
teaching personnel, electricity, water, generator, etc.
These supporting facilities are very important in assisting in the maintenance and security of the
school and especially in the teaching and learning of sub jects that requires laborator y practical.
ix. Number of Available Subjects in the School: the total numb ers of sub jects on offer by the
school will determine how they are allocated in the time-tab le and their frequencies. A
compulsory subject for example at the school and class levels must be id entified and be given
priority if the teachers that are to teach them are available.
Time-Table and School Effectiveness
The aims and objectives of preparing a time-table for school is to ensure that all the activities
scheduled on the time tab le are carried out as expected and effective teaching and learning take
place. When this is achieved in a school, every staff teaching and non-teaching are said to be
effective. For a school head to achieve this, he/she must take the following step s: He/She must:
i. ensure compliance with government directives and polices in regard to the school time-table
ii. ensure that every teacher conducts his lesion as scheduled on the time-tab le,
iii. supervise instructional activities of the teachers to ensure that they adopt the right teaching
method,
iv. ensure that every teacher makes the optimum use of the school resources,
v. ensure amicable resolution of clashes in the time-table between teacher s,
vi put in p lace time-table monitoring committee that will ensure strict adherence to the school
time-table,
vii. make the school environment conducive for teaching and learning, and
viii. maintain discip line among staff and students.