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Citizens' Convention Endorses 5-Day School Week and 9 a.m. Starts in France

The non-binding 258-page blueprint now moves from the CESE to the government for consideration.

Overview

  • The Convention citoyenne on children’s time adopted 20 proposals by a vote of 119–2 with 4 abstentions, concluding six months of work at the CESE in Paris.
  • Key timetable changes include five full school days from elementary through high school, secondary classes starting no earlier than 9:00, 45-minute periods, theory in the morning, practical learning in the afternoon, and lessons ending around 15:30 to allow extracurricular activities.
  • The calendar would keep 16 weeks of annual holidays but reduce the February and Easter breaks from three zones to two, with a shared week to better balance roughly seven weeks of classes with two weeks off.
  • Digital-use measures call for banning social networks before age 15, prohibiting mobile phones in primary and middle schools, and limiting school platform activity during designated hours.
  • Ministers offered no concrete commitments; the report will be submitted to the executive and presented to parliament in January, with debates expected from education unions, local authorities and the tourism sector given that about 90% of communes currently operate on a four-day week.