French streets are again full of hunched little figures staggering to school with several bricks’ worth of weight in their satchels. Every year, parents and the media complain, the Government issues guidelines and les cartables stay packed.
The burden of Gallic learning first afflicts youngsters at primary school, when they are subject to la liste de fournitures: the manuals, binders and equipment that every teacher imposes. Homework and stress on the written word explain the load, as does the reluctance of schools to provide lockers — American, and likely to cause trouble, say teachers. For some, 10kg (22lb) loads are common. My 12-year-old insists that she has no alternative to hauling her bag. Moreover, she has to look cool by owning the same US brand as almost every other child. Nothing is more naff than the unfortunates who pull their gear on rollers, she says. The loads are commonly above the health guideline of a maximum 10 per cent of the child’s weight. About 80 per cent of secondary pupils exceed the limit, set by Ségolène Royal, who was Schools Minister in 1995 and is now the Socialist favourite for the presidential election. As a mother of four, she is promising to lighten bags. That will be one of her harder pledges to fulfil.