08-05-2025
Macron eyes cut to ‘sacrosanct' eight-week summer school holidays
President Macron has ignited an inflammatory debate over France's sacrosanct summer holidays with an announcement that he is planning to reform the school calendar.
Macron, who says pupils forget their lessons during the eight-week summer break, is to convene an assembly made up of ordinary citizens to draw up a new calendar for the nation's schools.
But in a county where pupils have 16 weeks away from the classroom every year, his idea has generated widespread opposition.
President Macron poses for a selfie with children at a middle school in Ganges, southern France
DANIEL COLE/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Teaching unions are indignant at the idea that their members should have to work more. Tourist industry chiefs are also aghast; political commentators are incredulous. Many say Macron is raising the issue as a smokescreen to divert attention from other problems, such as the country's economic difficulties
