Oreorganize school according to the needs of the 14 million children in France, never forget these 0-18 year olds in the development of public policies, these are not only the needs of the hour, but imperatives for the future of the country. Particularly at a time when alarming findings are piling up on the mental health of young people, the parenting crisis, the weaknesses of the school system and the influence of social networks. This is why we must welcome and implement the proposals contained in the report adopted, Sunday, November 23, by the citizens’ convention on children’s time.
Far from bureaucratic, corporate or political burdens, the 133 citizens chosen at random delivered a series of proposals on all subjects linked to childhood, nourished by collective expertise acquired after consultation with experts. By adopting these guidelines by a large majority, the members of the convention demonstrate, in the midst of a parliamentary crisis over the budget, the possibility of reaching compromises, even on divisive issues.
The quasi-consensus on the flagship proposal of the convention, the return from one week to five days – instead of four today in 90% of schools – contrasts with the outcry caused in 2013 by the reform in a similar sense by Minister Vincent Peillon. Turned towards“interests of the child”the report recommends drastic changes for the school system: lessons limited to the 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. time slot and to a duration of 45 minutes, reduction of homework, dissociation between theoretical lessons, on the one hand, and practical, artistic and sports lessons, on the other, etc.
Welcome, these changes would allow France to finally begin a break with a unique organization in Europe, denounced for years by educators and chronobiologists, which overloads fewer school days than among our neighbors. Proof of its political independence, the convention rejected Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to shorten the summer holidays, preferring a “reconquest” of the month of June. But she agrees with the President of the Republic in advocating a ban on access to social networks before the age of 15, noting their “major impact on health”.
Silence from the executive
Much conservatism and inertia remains to be overcome before such a global policy in favor of childhood is initiated. The silence of the executive since the end of the citizens’ convention and the criticism from the teachers’ unions do not bode well. The latter are right to emphasize that the upgrading of careers constitutes a sine qua non condition for the proposed developments. But the principle, too often forgotten, according to which the needs of young people, and not the constraints of adults, must be placed at the center of educational institutions must finally prevail. Too often eclipsed by school issues, the need to generalize parenting education must also be taken into account.
If the current political fragmentation makes short-term progress uncertain, the citizens’ convention has laid down milestones, clearly supported by civil society, around which the next electoral debates must be organized. Starting with the March 2026 ballot for the renewal of municipalities, which are at the heart of the issues of school and children’s time.
