'Cut school holidays for economy'

Schools have to change in a global economy, says Chicago mayor

Schools should cut the long summer holiday to create a better-educated workforce, says the mayor of one of the biggest cities in the United States.

Chicago mayor, Richard Daley, says to compete with economies in Asia, US pupils need to put in longer hours.

"If you're going to compete with India and China, they're going to school six days a week and they don't take the summer off," said the mayor.

"Still having two months off is ridiculous in this country."

Speaking at the opening of a new high school campus in the city, Chicago's mayor said that schools needed to do more to create a skilled workforce.

'Year-round school'

Introducing such a "year-round" school timetable in the third biggest school system in the US would be expensive - but he argued that the investment was necessary.

"We're spending $16bn (£9bn) for the NASA programme, why can't we spend money for summer programs for every child here in this country?" he said.

In Chicago, pupils study for 180 days a year. In England, the statutory number of days is 190.

In England, there has been discussion about extending the use of schools - although not to increase the hours of individual pupils.

"Extended schools", which would open from 8am to 6pm, would provide more before and after-school clubs, intended to help children and working parents.

A school in Rochdale is to consult teachers and parents on the idea of opening for lessons 364 days a year. Teaching would take place throughout the year - even at weekends - but not everyone would be in school at the same time.

Less is more

But in terms of educational "productivity", international comparisons of the numbers of total hours spent in the classroom do not necessarily show any link between longer hours and higher achievement.

The country in the industrialised world where pupils study for the least number of hours is Finland, which is also one of the best-performing education systems.

Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Korea also have relatively low numbers of lesson hours, but are high achievers.

In part, this reflects the Scandinavian tradition of children entering school at a later age.

Figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development show that classroom hours for pupils in England and Scotland are above average.