George Osborne's budget proposal for longer school days hasn't gone down very well
Disgruntled children and their parents in the UK have hit out at George Osborne's budget proposal to lengthen school days.
The Chancellor has announced extra financial support for at least 25% of all secondary schools "that want to offer their pupils longer school days with more extra-curricular activities like sport and art".
Chloe Tatlock, 17, from Chorley, Lancashire said she was concerned about the effect of the changes on younger school children - including her 14-year-old brother.
She said: "I think the main thing would be stress - me and my friends are currently doing our A-levels and have already completed our GCSEs so we know how much pressure kids feel whilst in school."
She studied her GCSEs at Holy Cross Catholic High School and is now in her second year working toward A-levels in English literature, English language and film studies at Runshaw College.
She said: "I think there's too much expectation placed on students too young.
"When you start to feel like all you're doing is school work it becomes monotonous and you begin to resent school and you lose your willingness to learn."
Asked what the impact would be on school children, she said: "I think they would be less inclined to work hard and other aspects of their lives would suffer.
"Speaking from experience, I have had periods of time where I struggled mentally with the pressures of college and it's caused me to panic, be ill and fall behind in my work."
She said she was lucky to have supportive tutors who had helped her a lot, adding that they too would suffer if hours increased.
Jemma Binanti, 23, from Edinburgh, has a young daughter who is not yet in school but said she feared longer hours would put a "real strain on family time" with her younger sister Katie.
She said: "I don't have a little one at school just yet but my younger sister is eight.
"I already feel she spends so much of her time at school, I fear longer hours would put a real strain on family time, not to mention the added pressure on teachers.
"Teachers are already so stretched with ever-growing class sizes. Happy teachers equal happy children, something I do not think longer school hours would achieve."
Justine Roberts, chief executive of Mumsnet, the UK's largest network for parents, said: "The pre-Budget noise about school changes has been much discussed this morning.
"The cost and availability of childcare are huge issues for parents, and making use of school buildings for after-hours clubs and activities makes a lot of sense to Mumsnet users.
"However, many would prefer the additional activities to be non-curricular - and quite a few think that if raising academic standards is the object, addressing teacher recruitment in Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects might do more good than one extra school hour per day."
