Currently, students go on vacation on a delayed basis, based on three zones (A, B and C) and the dates of their vacations are shifted to winter and spring. But the executive plans to go from three to two zones. However, this proposal studied by a commission on the school calendar is “not part of the immediate plans” of Gabriel Attal, he assured.
Interviewed in the program “La Maison des maternales” on France 2, the Minister of Education nevertheless assured that he was “watching” what was proposed. “I will obviously look at the report given to me and the proposal made to me. For me, my priority today, when we talk about the holidays, is how to ensure that students in difficulty who are far behind in French and mathematics can do successful internships, perhaps make their return to school earlier than the others,” he added.
Five to eleven weeks between two vacation periods
A commission on the school calendar, bringing together teaching unions, parents’ associations and local authorities, set up in the spring at the initiative of the parents’ federation FCPE, is currently working on this subject.
“The question is the well-being of the student and their pace of work,” explained Laurent Zameczkowski, spokesperson for the PEEP parents’ federation. “With the sliding system of the three zones, particularly for the February and Easter holidays, we find ourselves with delays. Sometimes there are only five weeks between two vacation periods, and sometimes there are up to eleven weeks, which is a worry. »
“Two areas that do not overlap”
To improve the system, “the trend is rather to go from three zones to two”, but the commission has “not yet ruled”, he added. This should submit conclusions to the minister “in February” after hearings carried out since September, in particular of tourism professionals, he said.
“The current system has drawbacks, the spring holidays are, for example, too late,” said Jean-Luc Boch, president of the National Association of Mountain Resort Mayors (ANMSM). “We no longer want the zones to overlap because it creates too much concentration. The idea would be to move to two non-overlapping areas. » “For us, the school calendar works rather well,” said Géraldine Leduc, general director of Anett (National Association of Elected Officials of Tourist Territories). According to her, “the move to two zones risks accentuating the seasonality from which tourism suffers”.