Should School Holidays be Shortened?

According to the Guardian.co.uk, the Education Secretary Michael Gove wants school holidays to be cut short because the current structure is out of date.

The current school holiday structure was formed many years ago to allow children to get agricultural jobs; this income would help their families whilst not having a negative effect on their education. For example, in Scotland, they have an extra-long holiday in October because children used to pick potatoes during this break.

For parents who struggle to juggle child care, work and keeping the kids amused during the holidays (not to mention the added expense), this move could be a welcome change – an update to the education system to bring it up to date with modern  UK households.

However, despite the fact that it is usually more expensive to travel during the school holidays, for many families, this is their only opportunity to get a family holiday abroad without taking the children out of school early. Making these breaks shorter causes families to take their children out of school, or cancel their all-important yearly holiday altogether.

Although the summer holidays will probably remain long enough to fit in a break, the other popular travel periods, for example, Christmas and Easter may be off the cards – a blow for anyone who usually visits relatives abroad during these times.

No changes have been announced as of yet, however, it is clear that Mr Gove is keen to implement shorter half terms and holidays – so perhaps families should take advantage of the long summer holidays this year.

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