Once upon a time, schoolyards pulsed with life after the final bell. Students ran from classrooms to theaters, from playgrounds to art workshops. Evening activities, debates, competitions, hobbies discovered, and characters formed. Learning began in class… but it did not end with the bell.
And today? The gates are shut. Schools have turned into silent buildings after 2 p.m., and students have been pushed to find an “alternative arena”: malls, cafés, video games, or the empty void of digital spaces.
We moved our children from courtyards of education… to arenas of consumption. From fields of values… to stages of fashion.
A generation that was meant to create… now only consumes. A generation that was meant to train… now waits for discounts at the mall.
According to a 2024 UNICEF report, extracurricular activities reduce the risk of behavioral deviation by 36%, and increase collaboration and innovation skills by 42%.
But what did we do? We closed the educational spaces… and left the generation in front of screens.
The problem is not the children. It is the institution that decided to shrink education into a classroom hour, forgetting that the “making of a human being” does not happen only inside a lesson, but begins outside it.
Today, we welcome the Ministry of Education’s initiative to reopen summer activities. A beautiful step… that breathes life back into the schoolyard.
But initiative alone is not enough. We need organization, a clear vision, sustainability. Activities are not a summer season… they are a philosophy that completes the curriculum.
In Finland, schools remain open until 6 p.m.: community projects, development workshops, artistic and athletic activities—because they understand that a child is not raised only inside the lesson… but in how they spend their time after it.
This generation does not lack intelligence… but it lacks a civilized space to practice its humanity.
That’s why we propose in Kuwait stable, year-round programs—not just summer seasons. We need parents engaged not only as observers, but as planners. We need activities tied to real community projects—not just entertainment.
For when we empty the school of its social role, we don’t just lose education… we hollow out society itself.
Perhaps it is time we redefine the meaning of “school day.” For education does not end with the bell… it begins after it.
