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Michael Gove proposes longer school day and shorter holidays Michael Gove proposes longer school day and shorter holidays
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British schools will soon need to change from a timetable designed for a 19th century agricultural economy to a more family friendly, flexible schedule, Michael Gove, the secretary of state for education, has told a conference. Education secretary Michael Gove has called for longer school days and a cut in the length of holidays– a move he said would improve performance and make life easier for working parents.
Pupils are handicapped in comparison with their peers in other countries by the current structure of school hours and traditional holidays, Gove told the conference organised by the Spectator in London. The reforms could allow state schools to choose to stay open until 4.30pm and introduce a shorter, four-week summer holiday for pupils from September next year, representing a profound change for parents used to tailoring their own working hours to the classroom timetable.
He suggested recent changes to pay and working conditions for teachers were designed to allow for more flexible working arrangements, including longer school opening hours. Gove said the school system had been designed for a 19th-century agricultural economy and risked leaving British children trailing those in Asia.
"It may be the case that there are one or two legislative and bureaucratic obstacles, which prevent all schools moving in this direction but I think it's consistent with the pressures of a modern society. I also think it's going to be family friendly," Gove said. "It may be the case that there are one or two legislative and bureaucratic obstacles which prevent all schools moving in this direction, but I think it's consistent with the pressures of a modern society. I also think it's going to be family friendly," Gove said.
"The structure of the school term and the school day was designed at a time when we had an agricultural economy. But teachers' unions voiced anger at the proposals. Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said the education secretary was "making policy up on the hoof," without regard for the evidence.
"I remember half term in October when I was at school in Aberdeen was called the tattie holiday – the period when kids would go to the fields to pick potatoes. It was also at a time when the majority of mums stayed home. That world no longer exists, and we can't afford to have an education system that was essentially set in the 19th century." "Teachers and pupils already spend longer hours in the classroom than most countries and also have some of the shortest summer holidays," Blower said.
In his speech, Gove held out the example of successful education systems in east Asia that demanded higher standards of their students. "Independent schools in England and Wales, which often break for two weeks more during the summer and have longer holidays at other times of the year than their state counterparts, do not apparently feel the need to change and are apparently not suffering from their reduced hours."
"In order to reach those levels of achievement, a higher level of effort is expected on behalf of students, parents and teachers. School days are longer, school holidays are shorter. The expectation is that to succeed, hard work is at the heart of everything. The changes would require a rewriting of teachers' contracts, which Gove kickstarted this week by asking the independent School Teachers' Review Body to examine working hours.
"And if you look at the length of the school day in England, the length of the summer holiday … then we are fighting or actually running in this global race in a way that ensures that we start with a significant handicap." The current contract mandates that teachers work 195 days or 1,265 hours a year.
Some academies and free schools – which have more freedom to vary their operating hours – keep their pupils in school for longer than the typical 9am to 3pm schedule in state schools. Gove told a conference in London, organised by the Spectator magazine, that pupils were being handicapped in comparison with their peers in other countries. "The structure of the school term and the school day was designed at a time when we had an agricultural economy," he said.
The Ark chain of academies, for example, has mandatory school hours of 8.30am to 4.30pm on four days a week, and holds remedial classes on Saturdays for pupils lagging in maths and English. "I remember half term in October when I was at school in Aberdeen was called the tattie holiday – the period when kids would go to the fields to pick potatoes. It was also at a time when the majority of mums stayed home. That world no longer exists and we can't afford to have an education system that was essentially set in the 19th century."
Other schools have varied the structure of the school year, such as the David Young Community Academy in Leeds, which has a seven-term year, while others start the academic year earlier and insert holidays in the lengthy autumn term. Gove held out the example of successful education systems in east Asia that demanded higher standards of their students and had longer school days and shorter holidays.
Asked if there was going to be a teachers' strike, Gove answered bluntly: "Yes. There seems to be a competition between the [National Union of Teachers] and NASUWT to compete for members, with each one trying to out-radical the other." "If you look at the length of the school day in England, the length of the summer holiday … then we are fighting or actually running in this global race in a way that ensures that we start with a significant handicap," Gove said.
Gove also made a cheeky offer to critics in the teaching unions who complain about his changes to the national curriculum and teachers' working conditions. Commenting on the speech, a Whitehall source said: "We can either start working as hard as the Chinese, or we'll all soon be working for the Chinese."
Saying that "there are some in the teaching profession, I'm afraid, who won't take yes for an answer", Gove accused his critics of incoherence: "They say we'd like more freedom – and we give them more freedom with academies and free schools. When they say your curriculum proposals are ridiculous, well, in that case, with academies, you can create your own curriculum." Some academies and free schools – which have more freedom to vary their operating hours – already keep their pupils in school for longer than state schools.
The secretary of state then issued an invitation: "Many of [the teaching unions] have very passionate criticisms of the model of education that I've outlined and there's an open invitation to the unions which is – prove me wrong. Set up a Free School. The Ark chain of academies, for example, has mandatory school hours of 8.30am to 4.30pm on four days a week and holds remedial classes on Saturdays for pupils lagging in maths and English.
Other schools have varied the structure of the school year, such as the David Young Community Academy in Leeds, which has a seven-term year.
Asked if there was going to be a teachers' strike, Gove answered bluntly: "Yes. There seems to be a competition between the NUT and NASUWT to compete for members, with each one trying to out-radical the other."
Gove made an offer to unions who complain about his reforms: "Many of [the teaching unions] have very passionate criticisms of the model of education that I've outlined and there's an open invitation to the unions which is: prove me wrong, set up a free school.
"If the NUT were to set up a free school, we would find them a building, we would fund it. And I would love to see an NUT or another union free school.""If the NUT were to set up a free school, we would find them a building, we would fund it. And I would love to see an NUT or another union free school."
Turning down Gove's offer, a spokesperson at the union noted: "The NUT is in a lot of places already. They're called schools."
Separately, universities minister David Willetts said he wanted to galvanise successful pupils from poorer backgrounds into applying to university – by sending them letters of encouragement from government ministers.