Parents of younger French children cheered yesterday after news that President Sarkozy is to scrap one of the most unpopular yet enduring Gallic traditions: Saturday morning classes.

Xavier Darcos, the Education Minister, told parents’ associations that Saturday school would end next year for primary children as part of President Sarkozy’s drive to modernise the costly but underperforming education system.

Saturday school has long been cursed by families, who have to forgo weekend trips and rise early to escort children or face the wrath of teachers if their offspring are absent.

After piecemeal reforms in recent decades, two thirds of primary children still attend school on at least one in three Saturdays. In Paris they alternate Saturdays and attend classes on Wednesday mornings, while most children have that day off.

Secondary school children will continue trekking to classes on Saturdays. The Government has not decided whether or how to replace time lost from Saturday mornings.

The fractured routine dates back to when Thursdays were devoted to Catholic instruction and children attended school all day on Saturday. Until recently a majority of educators resisted change, arguing that it was healthier for children to have a midweek break, and a minority still agree. Yesterday a poll showed that 80 per cent of parents and 59 per cent of teachers opposed Saturday classes.

President Sarkozy, who has an 11-year-old son among his five children, agrees with parents who say that weekends are disrupted and too short. A strong case against Saturday classes has come from divorced fathers, who complain of truncated weekends when their children visit them.

Farid Hamana, head of the main parent-teachers’ federation, said that Mr Darcos’s measure was good news for parents. “It will enable them to align their rest time with that of the children and simplify life for children of divorced couples,” he said.

President Sarkozy is trying to tackle the relative failure of French schools, which rank about average in global leagues despite their old reputation for rigour. A third of primary school-leavers have failed to reach minimum standards for literacy and numeracy.

The President has angered left-wing teachers’ unions with his reform plans. He has promised to cut the overall classroom time and wants schools to organise sport and cultural activities that they have traditionally neglected.

According to yesterday’s poll, for the Nouvel Observateur weekly, parents and teachers favour shortening the summer holidays by three weeks as the best way to make up for time lost from Saturday mornings. This would mean a majority of primary children enjoying a four-day week.

Class differences

— Children in England and Wales have the shortest summer holidays in Europe – an average of six weeks. Bulgarian children have the longest – about 16

— In France school lunches often consist of three or four courses, while the vast majority of schools in South Africa do not serve food at all

— Of the 27 countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Iceland has the shortest school hours (630 hours a year) and Italy the longest (1,020 hours a year)

— In Australia the average child spends 16 years in school, while in Chad most children spend four

— In many Japanese schools pupils must bring a toothbrush and cup to school and brush their teeth after lunch. At the end of the school day, the students share chores – including cleaning lavatories and sinks

Sources: timeforkids.com; cyberschool-bus.un.org; Times archives

Read Charles Bremner’s Paris blog

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