Macron calls for 'citizens' convention' on French school holidays
French President Emmanuel Macron's office has announced the launch of another 'citizens' convention' (
convention citoyenne
) - this time on the topic of school hours and holidays.
Macron has already launched multiple of these conventions (also known as 'citizen councils') to help come to a common understanding of a complicated or polarising topic, such as how to approach climate change or assisted dying (for terminally ill patients).
READ MORE:
EXPLAINED: What are France's 'citizen councils'?
"It seems necessary to me that we work to ensure that the organisation of pupils' days is more favourable to their development and learning, and that we find a balance to make life easier for families," Macron said in an interview with French daily
Le Parisien.
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"We have very, very long summer vacations. Children who do not have family support often drop down in their academic level.
"The citizens' convention seemed to me to be the most appropriate tool for consulting the French people.
"It is a very complex issue that will require building consensus among all those affected by this vast subject, such as parents, the educational community, including after-school programmes, local authorities, and even tourism professionals," Macron told the French daily.
A citizens' convention involves a random panel of French citizens who are selected - similar to jury duty - and tasked with hearing from experts who present varying perspectives on the topic.
At the end of the 'convention', the members issue recommendations for how the French government should proceed. While the government must consider their recommendations, they are not obligated to heed them.
The idea is that these citizens' conventions help to get an idea of the opinions of average French people, as well as to involve citizens more directly in the functioning of the government.
Members of this convention would consider the start and end times for school days, as well as the number of weeks of holiday per year, particularly for
les grandes vacances
(the summer holidays).
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Do French pupils have too much time off?
French school pupils typically get a two-month holiday over the summer, with term ending in the first week of July and restarting on or shortly after September 1st.
Although
les grandes vacances
are the biggest holidays, there are plenty of other breaks during the school year.
Pupils (and teachers) get several two-week breaks. These include breaks in the autumn for Toussaint; at Christmastime in December; in February-March for a winter break; and again in April-May for spring break.
In total, schools spend 16 weeks a year on holiday and have 36 weeks of teaching time.
This is one of the shortest school years in the world - the OECD average is 38 weeks and around a third of world's countries have a school year of 40 weeks or longer.
That said, according to that same
OECD report
, France was above the average for the number of hours of instruction for year.
READ MORE:
ANALYSIS: Do French schoolchildren really have too many holidays?
The subject has interested Macron for years.
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In August 2023, the president discussed the issue with news magazine Le Point. At the time, Macron argued for an earlier return to the classroom for some pupils, saying that those who "have been assessed, and who need it, must be able to return as early as August 20th to allow for catch up".
The comments have not been enacted, but they did cause widespread anger amongst teaching unions, who have historically opposed cutting school holidays.
Most recently, in February, the president told the press that France "has longer summer holidays than many other countries (...) many countries do not go on holiday until July 14th", which is a little over a week after France's last day.
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