President Obama Wants Longer School Year for US Pupils
American school children spend less time at school than pupils in other industrialized countries. According to American President Barack Obama, this should change. He notes that, because of a longer summer vacation, American children forget a lot of what they learn over the year.
Not all Americans are in favour of this idea, especially pupils who would like to have a long summer vacation. Teachers would have to work longer and the tourist industry would suffer from a shorter summer break.
A research conducted on schools nationwide show that private institutions that keep their pupils in school longer get better results than others, especially inner city schools.
Some school districts have already followed Obama's suggestion and are offering courses and other activities during the summer holidays. On the other side there are many schools that have cut their summer programs because they do not have enough money.
The research paper has also showed that Americans are falling behind in fields like science and mathematics, where they were once number one in the world. Today America ranks 21st in the world of science and 25th in maths.
President Obama also made an appeal to parents. They should check and see if children do their homework and motivate their children to learn hard.
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Words:
- according to = as shown by someone
- appeal = ask for something important
- break = vacation, holiday
- conduct = carry out
- district = here: an area in the United States with a number of schools that are governed together
- especially = above all
- field = area
- in favour of = to be for something
- motivate = to make someone want to do something
- nationwide = around the whole country
- note = to mention or talk about something important
- research = the study of a topic in order to discover new facts or ideas
- research paper = a written document about the results of such a study
- suffer = a situation that becomes worse
- suggestion = idea or plan
- vacation = holidays