During his visit to Marseille, the Head of State said he wanted to “reopen” the debate concerning school time over the year, because “when you have a three-month vacation, inequality returns”, he said. – he insisted without giving a timetable specifying that he did not envisage a decision before the summer of 2025. Emmanuel Macron mentioned, to conclude his remarks, a negative consequence, according to him, of the current school rhythms: “We stuff the weeks of our children. It’s because the children leave too early and have vacations that have lengthened over the last twenty years.” Two weeks earlier, former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe had raised the same idea at a public meeting in Bordeaux.
Unsurprisingly, the Head of State mentioned the German model to support his point: “How do the Germans do to have sport in the afternoon? Because they have school time which is distributed differently in the year.” So what is their secret? Among our neighbors across the Rhine, the school layout varies from one region to another. On average, students have between five and six weeks in the summer, according to data from OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) for 2021. The year ends mid-June and the start of the school year is mid-August.
By way of comparison, France provides 8.2 weeks of summer leave. If we only look at the summer period, France is in the low average of other OECD countries – in 29th position out of 38. Contrary to what the President of the Republic implies, France is part of the “reasonable” countries in terms of summer holidays, far behind, Estonia and Ireland. The two European countries offer 13.2 and 12.6 weeks of summer holidays respectively. In Greece, pupils are 10.6 weeks old, compared to 11 in Hungary and 11 in Spain.
Reasonable summer vacation
Conversely, young Swiss only have five weeks during the summer period. It is the OECD country that offers the fewest school holidays, with only ten weeks per year. Just behind the Swiss country, come the countries of the North, like Denmark and the Netherlands. They allow eleven weeks of vacation, including six weeks in the summer. If we take into account all the holidays of the school year, France rises to sixth place among OECD countries, with 16 weeks of rest. Three weeks longer than the Germans. In Spain, pupils are 14 weeks old, 12 in Germany, or 15 in Italy. Once again, the first place goes to Ireland which has 19 weeks of school holidays.
The frequency and length of leave differs
The length of the school year varies greatly between OECD countries, so the number of weeks that students are out of class also fluctuates strongly. The frequency and length of holidays differ from country to country, because the way the school year is organized is not the same. In other words, each European country distributes its holidays as it sees fit. Estonia goes so far as to give 13 weeks of summer holidays, but cut corners on other holidays. Same observation in Italy. At home, the length of leave may vary from one institution to another. “In 26 of the 40 OECD countries and economies studied, the total duration of school holidays is harmonized at national level”, specifies the OECD.
And France stands out from the others by the regular alternation of holidays. The schedule is as follows: seven weeks of lessons followed by two weeks of vacation. Its neighbors do not have this organization. If we take the autumn holidays, 19 countries have only one week when others have nothing at all (for 13 countries). Finally, what about compulsory teaching hours?
Let’s go back to the comparison with Germany: Berlin provides 7,401 compulsory hours of education – primary and secondary cycle included – against 8,152 hours in France, according to OECD data. However, the European average is 7,700. According to the recommended annual instruction time in full-time compulsory education in Europe 2020-2021, France is one of the countries with the most teaching hours in Europe. Hence the need for students to rest.