A significant number of voters are urging schools to transition to four-day weeks by extending daily hours, with over 126,000 signatures supporting the call for this change, which will be presented to MPs on Monday. Despite the demand, the Department for Education (DfE) has stated it does not plan to implement this proposal.
Proponents argue that adopting a four-day school week could enhance teacher recruitment and retention. However, the government contends that such a move would negatively impact parents, who would face challenges in making alternative childcare arrangements.
The issue will be deliberated in Westminster Hall due to the high number of petition signatories. The petition, initiated by Steve Smith, calls on the government to mandate all schools to reduce the school week to four days by extending each school day by an hour while maintaining a four-day week schedule.
Joe Ryle, director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, an advocate for shorter work hours without salary reductions, has urged MPs to support the initiative.
Ryle previously emphasized, “Implementing a four-day week for teachers could address the critical challenges in teacher recruitment and retention within our schools. Failure to address the work-life balance for educators would render the government’s commitment to hiring an additional 6,500 teachers in England meaningless.”
Despite advocacy for the change, the government has dismissed the proposal. The DfE’s response highlighted that state-funded mainstream schools are required to offer a minimum of 32 hours and 30 minutes per week.
The statement from the DfE stated, “Reducing the school week to four days while meeting the minimum requirement would necessitate a school day of over 8 hours. Schools would need to allocate an additional one hour and 38 minutes per day across the four days to fulfill the weekly minimum requirement.
“Shortening the school week would also negatively impact parents, who would have to make additional childcare arrangements, reduce their work hours, or potentially exit the workforce entirely. This could place families under financial strain and have adverse effects on the national economy.”
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Terms and Conditions.
