The return to school in our country is about to begin. Navarra and La Rioja are the earliest communities (between September 4 and 6), and Catalonia and Extremadura the latest (September 12). In between these dates, children from other communities will be incorporated.
According to the report 'The Organization Primary and General Secondary Education 2018/19' prepared by the European Commission, Spanish children are of the last European students to return to the classroom after summer vacations, although other neighboring countries outnumber us in number of holiday days.
The report analyzes the differences between school calendars from the 38 European countries of the Erasmus program (28 Member States + Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey), based on the duration of the school year, the start and end of the course, and the duration of the holidays, and taking as reference the data of the 2018-19 course.
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Of the 38 countries studied, in ten of them the academic year begins in August, being Denmark and Finland the earliest countries with the "back to school". On the other hand, although the official date of return to the classrooms in Germany is August 1, children usually start between August 6 and September 11 according to the state. The other countries in which the academic year starts in August are Iceland, Liechtenstein, some regions of the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Scotland and some regions of Switzerland.
In other countries The school year starts in September: in 19 countries classes start on day 3, in southern European countries such as Albania, Italy, Portugal, Turkey and Spain, it starts in mid-September, and in Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Malta at the end of the same month .
The average number of days during the course is between 170 and 190
In most European countries the school year lasts between 170 and 190 days; although there are exceptions outside this range, as is the case in Albania with 156 days of school, and Dinamaca and Italy with 200 days.
In general, The number of days the course lasts is the same in Primary and Secondary Education, although there are exceptions in France, Greece and Serbia, where the number of school days is greater among students who attend Secondary Education, because in addition to the official days of teaching, exam periods are counted.
At the opposite extreme are Ireland, Cyprus, the Netherlands and Bosnia Herzegovina, where primary school students have more school days than students at higher levels.
In Babies and more, should the number of school days be extended?Holidays vary greatly from country to country.
Except for the Christmas holidays, the rest of holidays and school vacations varies greatly from one country to another, although we find four major holiday periods common to most countries:
Christmas and New Year: during Christmas, almost all countries offer two weeks of vacation, although in Poland and Slovenia it is only one week, while in Germany it rises to three. In our country, the duration of the Christmas holidays ranges between two weeks and two and a half weeks, depending on the day of the week on which the Reyes holiday falls.
The calls "winter holidays" or carnival They last one week in 21 European countries, and two weeks in France, Poland and Turkey. On the contrary, a total of eight countries have no party in this period. Such is the case in Spain, where there is no concept of "winter holidays", and the Carnival festival varies according to the autonomous community, ranging from one to three days.
Spring or Easter holidays (Holy Week, in Spain) last between one and two weeks in most European countries, although there are exceptions. Thus, in Finland and Slovakia, Easter only lasts four days, while in Switzerland the holidays of this period extend to three weeks. In countries like Montenegro and Turkey there is no party in this period.
Autumn holidays are enjoyed in 19 European countries and have a duration of one week. In the case of the Czech Republic, Iceland and Serbia only last two days, while in Switzerland they rise to three weeks. On the contrary, in 13 countries there are no vacations in this period of the year, as in Spain, Albania, Austria, Croatia, Montenegro or Macedonia.
Summer vacations, separate mention
Duration in weeks of the summer holidays of European countries. Via European Commission. Summer holidays deserve a special mention, because if in general we talked about great coincidences in the rest of the holiday periods, as far as summer is concerned, the same does not happen.
For most countries, summer vacations begin in the month of June, although the period may vary from the end of May to mid-July, depending on the country.
In Babies and more Reconciling work and family in summer can mean a disbursement of one thousand euros per month in SpainRefering to Vacation duration, there are many differences from one country to another: from the six weeks of some German states, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (England, Wales and Scotland) and Liechtenstein, the 11 weeks of Spain, the 12-13 weeks of Albania, Latvia, Portugal, Turkey and Italy, and the 15 Bulgaria weeks.
In some countries, holidays also vary depending on the level of education. In this sense, high school students in Bosnia Herzegovina and Iceland return to classrooms before elementary students, while in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Lithuania and Serbia it is the other way around.
Who decides on school vacations?
As we can see in our country's school calendar, the festivities may vary from one autonomous community to another, and even between cities within the same region. And the same happens in other European countries such as Germany, Italy, Austria and Switzerland, where regional authorities are the ones who make these decisions.
In other countries such as Sweden and Norway, the holiday dates are chosen by the municipalities, although in general in most countries this decision is taken from the central government.
The school calendar in our country
With a few exceptions, the number of school days and school vacations in Spain is similar to that of most European countries, but the main difference lies in the way of organizing holidays.
In this way we can appreciate four great holiday periods and a shorter summer vacation in most European countries, while in Spain the bulk is concentrated in the summer months.The exception to the Spanish calendar is set by the autonomous community of Cantabria, which It has a vacation week every two months of class. Thus, Cantabrian students have an entire week of vacation at the end of October, another in December, another in February and another in April.
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