“There are other priorities,” complains a teacher

The new Minister of National Education plans to shorten the summer school holidays, while French students benefit from eight weeks of summer vacation.

Elisabeth Borne wants to shorten the duration of vacations. The new Minister of National Education said she was open to the idea of ​​a reduction in summer holidays from 2026: “Long breaks result in a loss of level for the most vulnerable students”, assured the former Prime Minister in the columns of Parisianwhile summer holidays are already shortened for students in difficulty.

This is not the first time that the subject has been raised within the ranks of Macronie. In 2023, Emmanuel Macron himself estimated that it was necessary to “rethink this time in the year” while at the start of the school year in September “students no longer have the same skills as they had one month to one month and a half before classes stopped.

Summer vacation not so long?

In France, students have more vacations than elsewhere according to Eurostat, the statistical body of the European Community. Contrary to what one might think, it is not the summer holidays that pose the problem. In France, the next ones will last 8 weeks. It's 8 to 10 weeks in Central Europe, 10 to 12 weeks in Spain and the Balkans, more than 12 weeks in Italy or Greece.

The particularity of France lies elsewhere. It is the regular alternation of 7 weeks of classes followed by 2 weeks of vacation. Only French-speaking Belgium does the same thing. As a result, our country is among those with the fewest class days at school and college with around 162 days compared to 170 to 190 on average in Europe.

Salary increases rather than less vacation?

But for Benjamin Amar, history and geography teacher, it's an idea “to make a little foam”: “Madame Borne, I would suggest a priority to her: France, according to the OECD ranking, pays less his teachers than Colombia”, rails the former trade unionist on the set ofEstelle Midi. “There is a priority for teachers in France, these are salary increases,” he adds on RMC and RMC Story.

As for the supposed virtues for the level of the students, Benjamin Amar believes that we must already have enough teachers to provide support lessons: “For the level of the students, the problem of replacing teachers should be settled,” he insists.

Elisabeth Borne's wish to shorten school holidays must be the subject of “major consultation”, she assured the Senators. In the meantime, the Minister of National Education announced this Friday that the certificate would ultimately not be compulsory for entry into second grade.