France considers education overhaul
Source: Agencies |
October 6, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FRENCH children go to school four days a week. They have about two hours each day for lunch. And they have more vacation than their counterparts almost anywhere in the West.
It may sound a bit like the famously leisurely work pace enjoyed by their parents, most of whom work 35 hours per week as dictated by law.
But the nation's new government says elementary school kids risk classroom burnout, and is moving to help them cope. The issue: French school days may be relatively few, but they are at least as long as a day of work for adults. Even 6-year-olds are in class until late into the afternoon, when skies are dark, attention flags and stomachs rumble.
As a candidate, President Francois Hollande promised to change things by adding a fifth day of classes on Wednesday while shortening the school day. For France, it's something of a revolutionary idea that would overturn more than a century of school tradition. The thinking is that the days are too full for young children under the current system and that Wednesday free time could be put to more productive use.
"France has the shortest school year and the longest day," Hollande said at the time, promising change.
His education minister, Vincent Peillon, will decide this month how to carry out the reform. He has said he may also compensate for a shorter school day by trimming France's sacred summer vacation. A panel of experts were expected to present their conclusions late yesterday and the president is expected to address the issue on Tuesday.
No proposal affects tradition as much as what the French call changes to the "scholastic rhythms."
There's been a midweek break in French primary schools dating back to the 19th century. Now, Wednesdays are a blur of sports, music, tutoring for families of means, or a scramble for working parents struggling to get by - who must either find a sitter or send their kids to a full day at a state-run "leisure center."
Things aren't exactly easy for French kids.
Despite long summer breaks and the four-day week, French elementary school students spend more hours per year in class than average - 847, compared with 774 among countries in OECD, a club of wealthy nations.
It may sound a bit like the famously leisurely work pace enjoyed by their parents, most of whom work 35 hours per week as dictated by law.
But the nation's new government says elementary school kids risk classroom burnout, and is moving to help them cope. The issue: French school days may be relatively few, but they are at least as long as a day of work for adults. Even 6-year-olds are in class until late into the afternoon, when skies are dark, attention flags and stomachs rumble.
As a candidate, President Francois Hollande promised to change things by adding a fifth day of classes on Wednesday while shortening the school day. For France, it's something of a revolutionary idea that would overturn more than a century of school tradition. The thinking is that the days are too full for young children under the current system and that Wednesday free time could be put to more productive use.
"France has the shortest school year and the longest day," Hollande said at the time, promising change.
His education minister, Vincent Peillon, will decide this month how to carry out the reform. He has said he may also compensate for a shorter school day by trimming France's sacred summer vacation. A panel of experts were expected to present their conclusions late yesterday and the president is expected to address the issue on Tuesday.
No proposal affects tradition as much as what the French call changes to the "scholastic rhythms."
There's been a midweek break in French primary schools dating back to the 19th century. Now, Wednesdays are a blur of sports, music, tutoring for families of means, or a scramble for working parents struggling to get by - who must either find a sitter or send their kids to a full day at a state-run "leisure center."
Things aren't exactly easy for French kids.
Despite long summer breaks and the four-day week, French elementary school students spend more hours per year in class than average - 847, compared with 774 among countries in OECD, a club of wealthy nations.
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