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Rythmes scolaires

http://www.slate.fr/story/22553/rythmes-scolaires-pourquoi-la-france-tout-faux

http://www.liberation.fr/societe/0101639923-france-des-journees-parmi-les-plus-lourdes

On reparle des rythmes scolaires en France. Dans les classements mondiaux la France n'est pas bien placée pour la culture scientifique, littéraire et mathématique de ses élèves. La Suède et la Finlande sont souvent citées comme des pays où les élèves font les meilleurs progrès. (Le Royaume Uni est relativement bien placé, selon l'OCDE, surtout pour les connaissances scientifiques des élèves.) Et pourtant on passe beaucoup d'heures à l'école en France. Les journées sont longues.

Comparaison:
Finlande 190 jours - 950 heures environ par an
Royaume Uni 192 jours - 950 heures par an
France 144 jours - 1142 heures par an à 15 ans

(Ces chiffres ne sont pas certains -  dans une lettre adressée au comité qui va examine la question depuis le 7 juin, Luc Chatel affirme que le nombre d'heures est 914, par rapport à la moyenne de l'OCDE qui est 769. Peut-être qu'on parle du primaire dans ce cas.)

La semaine française est à revoir. Il faut alléger le contenu des programmes aussi. 5 heures par jour, cela suffit. 5 jours par semaine avec un weekend libre. Des vacances d'été moins longues, car bon nombre d'élèves risquent d'oublier ce qu'ils ont appris.

Il serait dommage si, dans le contexte actuel, les syndicats prenaient tout allègement des programmes ou des horaires comme un prétexte pour réduire le nombre d'enseignants. Et pourtant....

Un dernier point: je reste un peu sceptique en ce qui concerne les classements de l'OCDE. Il doit être quasiment impossible de faire des comparaisons précises de progrès entre enfants de différents pays qui suivent des programmes divers.

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