French Teachers Strike Over Five-Day Work Week

Outraged that socialist president wants to send young children to school five days a week instead of the current four

PARIS: Most primary schools in Paris shut down Tuesday as teachers went on strike over the Socialist government's plans to make children attend classes five days a week, instead of the current four.

President Francois Hollande promised as part of his election campaign last year to add a half day of classes on Wednesday -- currently a day off -- and shorten the school day for the rest of the week.

His argument was that French kids' education was suffering because they had one of the shortest school years in Europe but the longest school day.