National Board of Education does not believe that long school holidays are bad for pupils

British study points to hazards of children being unsupervised for long periods

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The Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE) is not overly enthusiastic about a British study, by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), saying that long school holidays ”are bad for children”.
      A forthcoming report, which compares schooling in Finland and Canada with the British education system, is to be published in June. The report has been written by researchers Sonia Sodha and Julia Margo.
     
According to the report, school summer holidays should be shortened, which would cut youth crime and raise education standards.
      Timo Lankinen, the Director-General of the Finnish National Board of Education, says that the results of the British study are not valid for Finland.
      ”We have to bear in mind that in spite of the current long summer holidays, Finnish 15-year-old secondary school pupils have repeatedly scored high marks in the OECD’s international study of attainment (PISA), while English schools have performed less successfully. Besides, the report refers mainly to certain US studies”, Lankinen notes.
      ”The issue of school holidays has been discussed already, and there is no acute need at this stage to re-evaluate the timing of school holidays in Finland,” Lankinen argues.
      In recent years, a reform of the school term structure has also been debated in Finland. It has been suggested that the school summer holidays should begin later than at the beginning of June. However, the FNBE put the proposal on ice last year.
     
According to the IPPR report, some young people spend too much time unsupervised, which can have a negative effect especially on pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
      The report says that the summer holidays are a time when levels of youth crime and vandalism increase.
      The study also found that ”over a long summer vacation particularly pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds are likely to fall behind in their reading”.
      Moreover, the researchers claim that uneven term lengths make it difficult for schools to do curriculum planning.
     
The think-tank calls for a reform of the school term structure, saying that terms should be spaced more evenly throughout the school year - possibly in five eight-week terms, with two terms before Christmas and three after.
      Furthermore, the terms should have a fortnight’s holiday in between, with a month-long summer holiday.
      The IPPR study was reported by the British broadsheet The Daily Telegraph.
     
The summer holidays of Finnish schools will begin from this weekend, as schools break up and upper secondary school graduates receive their white caps for satisfying the matriculation examiners.
      For those going back, the new term will start around mid-August, depending on schools.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish teens score high marks in latest PISA study (30.11.2007)

Links:
  Daily Telegraph article: Long school holidays ´are bad for children´
  Institute for Public Policy Research
  Finnish National Board of Education

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