School timetables discriminatory

Is school failure in Catalonia linked to our current timetables? The MPs who participated in the committee on timetable reform suspect so and as a result they propose that the issue ought to be studied. What they are more confident about is that the current school timetable is out of line with the education system as a whole. For example, the summer break “should be shorter” and holidays instead be distributed throughout the school year, as happens in other European countries.

The number of days holiday in Catalan schools is similar to those in other European countries, the difference is in how they are distributed, which here makes balancing work and family life more difficult. Thus, the committee urges the government to offer after-school activities at lower prices.

The findings of the parliamentary committee coincide fully with those of a number of international studies: intensive school schedules do not improve results and, on the contrary, can even discriminatory. Thus, the committee calls for intensive timetables to be removed from secondary schools: “Many children find themselves alone at home after three in the afternoon,” warns the committee. The MPs who have analysed and debated the pros and cons of current schedules call for more government resources aimed at “attending to pupils outside of class time”.

The committee's conclusions are clear that school timetables encourage inequality, as many families do not have the financial resources required to compensate for long working days.