Rosemary Goring: There are too many school holidays and days off. Time to cut back
In a café recently I got into conversation with a young man who had recently moved here from Hong Kong. Among his reasons for relocating was the difference between the Chinese and Scottish education systems. Back home, his five-year-old son would attend primary school from eight in the morning until mid-afternoon, after which there was a further compulsory two hours of instruction in subjects such as English. The relentless pressure put on children to be always learning and to excel was somethi