A report by the Institut Montaigne reveals that some French schoolchildren are lower than average students.
One child in four demonstrates difficulties in reading, writing or arithmetic upon entering college. The situation is being blamed on the length of the school year in France.
France has one of the shortest school years in Europe with only 140 class days as opposed to, for example, 200 days in Italy and Germany. Saturday and Wednesday morning classes were also recently abolished. This leaves four days for schoolchildren to cram everything in and many children are falling behind.
According to some experts, Saturday classes were cancelled to accommodate the needs of teachers and parents. However, the students’ best interests were not considered.
The institute proposes 13 solutions to remedy the situation and improve the lot of the country’s schoolchildren. It recommends prolonging the school year by two weeks and using a five-day school week instead of the present four day cycle.