It’s a school day…saturday.. ??
Yes, in France young kids often have school on Saturday mornings. It varies a bit depending on the area of France you are in and if it is public or private school but traditionally in elementary school there is no school on Wednesday but school most Saturday mornings.
I think the traditional logic was that this would give the kids a break in the middle of the week so it wouldn’t be so intense for them. But with so many families nowadays where both parents work, the system seems to be very outdated and in need of a revision. If both parents are working then they have to find and pay for extra day care on Wednesdays and then after not seeing their kids that much during the week the kids go to school on Saturday mornings. Plus, if you want to go away for the weekend you can’t leave until noon on Saturday! How annoying is that? And anyways, in most cases, the kids don’t have a relaxing Wednesday, the days are just as long.
When we were living in Port Marly (western suburbs of Paris) the kids were on a 4 day week (no school on Wed or Sat) but they had to make the school year longer to make up for the lost time. I don’t think they are making a real conscious evaluation for the best system, they are just sticking with it for cultural reasons.
It is a little annoyance, but overall we are very pleased with the French education system. “La Maternelle”, which is for ages 3-5 is basically public pre-school through Kindergarten and is an excellent environment for kids to ease their way into the school system. School is only mandatory from ages 6-16 but most families take advantage of “La Maternelle”.
So, now it is Saturday afternoon, the kids are home from school and the sun is shining, so I am going to get off the computer and take the kids (and our dog Vegas) out for a walk.
Bon Week-end!
February 3rd, 2007 at 3:05 pm
The main purpose of the school is to keep the young people busy in the hope that it will protect them from doing silly things.