The Observer view on ending long summer holidays | Observer editorial

The six-week summer break sees low-income families struggling to pay for outings and even extra food

For well over a century, schoolchildren have greeted the dawning of the summer break with joy. Many aspects of the Victorian school system – blackboards and easels, caning and capital punishment – have fallen by the wayside. But the long summer holiday, originally adopted in order to allow children to help with the harvest, has remained a fixture of the education system long after child labour was outlawed in the UK.

The Observer is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper, founded in 1791. It is published by Guardian News & Media and is editorially independent.

Extra food costs for parents whose children normally get free school meals are £30-£40 a week for each child

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2MOAgHo