Reform of primary schools in France?

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sherry_landa

It's undeniable that the French system has never supported children with special or additional needs the way we hope the British system does. However, the change from Saturdays to Wednesdays has been coming a long time. Each area has been working at a local level allowing (in many cases I know of) parents to make the choice. Rural communities tend to favour the traditional-they are used to having their small children at home on a Wednesday and they work 7/7 so it makes no difference. More urban communities and the middle classes tend to like weekends away and school can interfere with that. Many have to seek child care for Wednesdays (or some women work 4 days a week because of this). As with all traditions, it is hard to let go of what you know, but there are advantages to both systems. Certainly, if the Government want full employment then M-F is a more sensible time for children to go to school. As a teacher I can argue that a mid-week break does make a difference to the children and teachers but the hours end up the same and it is nice to have a 2-day weekend.

Graham I

I personally think it's a good idea to change from the Saturday to Wednesday. Not only does Saturday schooling eat into the family's weekend, but Wednesdays off creates a childcare complication, meaning that many working women end up either paying for additional childcare or else taking a paycut to work 4 days a week. I believe that the majority of parents are in favour of the change.

It's hard to know how effective the other changes will be - I think that France faces basically the same problems as UK or US in terms of variability of education between schools in affluent/poor areas - there is no quick fix.

la voyageuse

in france we go to school from 8am to 5pm. wednesday is off and we have school on saturday morning. this is a problem as more and more parents want to go on weekend. so saturday session is moved on wednesday morning. this way they wont miss school on saturday anymore and as kids can also stay at leisure center on wednesday afternoon, this allow parents, usuallu mums, to work again.

i am french and i am a teacher in the uk. i am shockedthat kids leave school at 3pm everyday. i prefer france for that. but it is true that nothing is done really for special needs. schools is more available and friendly in the UK

Cheryl P

Stopping Saturday mornings is a good thing, but adding Wednesday morning is not a solution. The school day is incredibly long, with many children being left before school at the "garderie" and staying from 5 to 5.30 or 6pm to do their homework: another scandal. Children as young as 2 can be at the "maternelle" from 7am to 5.30 or 6pm, eating at the canteen. At present they really need the Wednesday to recover and lots of mothers work 80%, ie. have Wednedsay off to allow for this.
A real solution would be to work 5 days but shorter hours and employers should be persuaded to accomodate for this. The poor kids end up like zombies, and many parents seem to me to be selfish and could adjust their working lives to put their children not even first but at least a bit higher up the list of their priorities. Why bother to have them in the first place? I know the problem is acute for single mothers who really have to work full-time, but for many others could manage with a little less money.
There is however a strong lobby from teachers and the tourist industry to keep the long holidays, which would probably have to be shortened. In any case, with over 2 months in the summer they forget much of what they have learned!
Agree re disabled children; it makes the others aware of difficulties and be ready to help those less fortunate. When my son was in primary school 15 years ago, there was an almost-blind child and the others practically fought to be the one to guide him!

Eclipsepearl

I hadn't heard about the Wednesdays. I thought they were just going to drop Saturdays.

I really hate Saturday school. It really eats into "family time" and worse for when there are two working parents, which is part of the reason I'm staying home.

I can't really comment on the children in difficulty except to say that it has to be an improvement on the current system, which is very elitist. Sink or swim. They also don't explain things. Even though I've been in France 11 years (pre baby and hubbie), I have trouble keeping up. How do immigrant parents manage??

One positive thing is that in our area, they're starting to mainstream. There's a little girl with Downs in my children's elementary school and there was another very handicapped child in the preschool next door last year. I like my children to see not all are as lucky as they are, and to accept children who are a bit "different".

I didn't see that when I first came here. I even asked as was told "Oh they have their *own* schools..."

honey_gif

i thing it verry good .the student `ll fell comfortable

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