In many countries, schools have long summer holidays, with shorter holidays in between.However, a new report suggests shortening school holidays to stop children forgetting what they have learnt during the long summer break.Instead of three school terms, it says, there should be five eight-week terms.And there should be just four weeks off in the summer, with a two-week break between the other terms. Sonia Montero has two children at primary school and works full-time.She supports the idea."The kids," she says, " have much longer holidays then and I can't afford to take several weeks off work, so I need someone to take care of them.But nobody wants the work in the summer holidays -- they all have holidays of their own. Not surprisingly, some young people disagree.Student Jason Panos says , "It's a stupid idea.I would hate staying at school in the summer.It's unfair, too.The people who suggest this had long school holidays when they were young, but now they want to stop us enjoying the summer.The kids in Spain and American have much longer holidays than here, but they don't forget everything they've learnt in a few months." Nadia Salib agrees."Sure," she says, "the first week at school after the summer is never easy, but you soon get back into it.The real problem round here is that kids get bored after so many weeks out of school, and then some of them start causing trouble.But the answer is to give them something to do, not make everyone stay in school longer." What does Jason say about long summer holidays?
They can help children forget about school. Schools in other countries don't have long holidays. These days many older people suggest having long holidays. They do no harm to children's education.