France’s Four Day School week: Still illogical
France has a 4.5 day work week for students ( and their teachers). Meaning our dear little ones must rise and shine early on Wednesday morning, only to be asked to stay home after lunch time. Not very logical you have to admit. On the other hand they spend long days in school compared to a lot of Anglo Saxon countries: 8:30AM to 4 PM.
Some cities and private institutions demanded an end to this system and they can now choose to adhere to the ‘ Four Day School Week’, meaning in this case there is no school on Wednesday. These schools must then make up for the half days when the children are not being taught. The way this is done is unfortunately, as illogical as the 4.5 day School Week, most likely because the calendar is still set by the French Ministry of Education, an institution even Kafka would not have dreamed of…
For instance this year in those areas where the Four day School Week is in place, back to school day is Wednesday, August 29. Why shorten children’s summer and trouble parents who may have access to vacation rentals that run from one Saturday to the next?
Especially given that six weeks into the school year, arrives another 10 day vacation period for them, except this time its Fall, with its drizzle and cold in most areas of France. The dates are quite absurd as well: october 26 th to Thursday November 8th… Why not just break for a week? And why come back on a Thrusday? Make it a Monday!
I remember escaping to Washington, DC to see beautiful foliage and celebrate Halloween where its a fun time for kids the last time that break came around.. And of course, the children missed a couple days of school.
You want a country that likes things complicated? Choose France!
-> The official national school Calendar and a link to The Four Day School Week calendar by area ( in French)
Just so you know, the country is split up in three major zones ( A, B , C) with different school vacation dates, to limit the amount of people traveling for vacation at a given time…
