School holiday

School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which schools are closed. The dates and periods of school holidays vary considerably throughout the world, and there is usually some variation even within the same jurisdiction. Governments often legislate on the total number of school days for state schools. The holidays given below apply to primary and secondary education. Teaching sessions (terms or semesters) in tertiary education are usually shorter.

Terminology

Christmas holiday

In predominantly Christian countries, the "Christmas holidays" (or "winter break" or "winter recess" in some countries) include both the Christmas and New Year holidays. They normally last for about 2–3 weeks. However the Christmas holiday in Europe is shorter, sometimes two weeks or slightly less. In the southern hemisphere, Christmas is in the summer holiday period and the break is much longer (5 to 14 weeks).

Easter

In countries with a Christian religious tradition, Easter holiday (in the United States it is sometimes known as Spring Break or Spring Vacation) is a school holiday that takes place in the northern spring, with the date varying by country and level of schooling.

Summer holiday

In all countries, the longest break in the school year is during summer, lasting between 5 and 14 weeks. In America, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania and Russia, summer holidays are normally three months, compared to six to eight weeks in Britain, The Netherlands and Germany.

Holidays in the world

Africa

South Africa

In South Africa, the main holiday usually lasts from early December to early or mid-January (5 or 6 weeks). There is an autumn break of up to 2-week in late March or early April, a longer winter break in late June and early July, and a spring break in late September or early October.

Americas

Brazil

In Brazil, summer holidays start in early December and end in late January or early February.[1] Winter holidays are generally the entire month of July. Some schools in the tropical north follow a different school year. The Brazilian Carnival is 40 days before Easter Sunday and those dates are not school holidays.[2] Brazilian schools must have at least 200 school days. Some national and Catholic holidays are usually celebrated in 3 or 4 days, like Easter, Corpus Christi, Carnival and Tiradentes Day.

Canada

In Canada, the summer holiday includes the months of July and August, with students returning to school in late August or early September. The winter break lasts for two weeks (sometimes a day or two longer), beginning on Saturday, that encompass Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The spring break is one to two weeks long depending on the city or province. Good Friday and Easter may or may not fall within spring break. In Ontario, Canada's largest province, spring break is a four-day-long weekend between Good Friday and Easter Monday.[3]

Chile

The school year is divided into semesters. The first semester runs from the end of February or early March to July. Following a two-week winter break school resumes and lasts until late November or early December, followed by summer vacations.

Mexico

In Mexico, school usually ends in the second week of July and resumes the third week of August depending on what scheduling system a school uses, and whether it is high school or college. Christmas holiday is 2 weeks. Also there is the Easter recess which lasts 2 weeks.

United States

In the United States, there are typically 180 school days in a year[4] (although school years at colleges and universities are often shorter). Private schools tend to have classes for 170 days each year, but sometimes have them more or fewer days.

Event-based
Season-based

Note: Often in Charter Schools breaks are shorter due to the extended number of days students spend in school (200 days vs. 180 days for standard public schools).

College breaks

Colleges and universities vary widely. Some closely follow the K-12 break schedule, others have the same but longer breaks to accommodate students who live farther away and wish to return home for holidays. Most colleges and universities have the following breaks/holidays:

Most colleges and university years are divided into two semesters. The first starting from day after Labor Day in early September until mid-December, and the second lasting from the end of January until early May. Winter and summer classes could be taken in between the breaks.

Trip Advisor provides a summary of key holidays.[5]

Asia

China

Summer holidays usually last from early July to end of August. The winter holiday usually lasts 1 month, and its time varies depending on the date of the Chinese New Year.

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong summer holidays last from mid-July to the end of August. Christmas, Lunar New Year and Easter holidays last usually for one and a half weeks.

India

South India

In South India, summer vacations start in the last of April to beginning of June.

The Diwali break begins in either October or November, depending on the month Diwali occurs in that year. It lasts for about 1 week. Christmas break begins a few days before Christmas and lasts till the weekend after New Year (also known as winter vacations).

North India

In north India, the typical summer vacation runs from mid May to the end of June, school starting from July 1 usually.

Dusherra break is for usually for 10 days, and dusherra lies in the middle.

Christmas holidays are not usually given, however, some schools combine the Christmas holidays with the winter break. Schools in Uttar Pradesh give a holiday on Charan Singh's birth anniversary, and that's when the winter break starts for some. For some other schools the winter break starts on 28 December, and usually end on the second weekend of the new year.

Schools get an off for two weeks after their academic year ends(contrary to the summer vacations between two academic years in the south.) The new academic year starts on first April.

Most of India

There are many public holidays in India, depending on the region. Muslim holidays like Eid are enjoyed throughout the country by students of all religions.

Certain Holidays and mandated across the Nation.

January 26 : Republic Day

August 15 : Independence Day

October 2 : Gandhi Jayanti (Birthday of Mahatma Gandhi )

Indonesia

In Indonesia, there are three main school holidays:

Beside the main holidays, there are many small holidays which takes place for 1–2 days, such as the Independence Day, religious breaks, and Teacher's Day.

Japan

In Japan, school holidays take place from late March to early April, from the late July until early September, and over the Christmas and New Year period from December 24 to January 7. Additionally there is a full holiday week in May called "Golden Week."

Korea

Summer vacations and winter vacations are usually similar in length, lasting about 1 month each. There is also spring vacation which lasts about 2 weeks. In addition, there are a couple of 3-5 day long holidays per year, including "Chuseok" which is in fall and "Seolnal" which is in late winter.

Malaysia

There are two main school holidays. The mid-year holidays last for two weeks, from late May until mid-June, in between the two school terms. The year-end holidays last for six weeks, from mid-November until early January, in between two school years. Each school term has a mid-term break; one week in March for the first semester and one week in September for the second semester.

Schools are closed on national and state public holidays. Schools are allowed to have a few special holidays without replacement for events such as school anniversary and sports day. For festivities such as Hari Raya Puasa, Chinese New Year and Deepavali, schools usually apply for additional holidays to allow longer breaks for students to visit relatives in their hometowns. However, every day missed exceeding the special holiday allowance would be replaced by having classes on weekends.

Philippines

In the Philippines, summer break starts from the late March to early June, semestral break starts from late October to early November, and Christmas break starts from mid December to early January. Event-based holidays are declared by the President (for national holidays) and the provincial governor or city mayor for local holidays through the Department of Education (DepEd) for Basic Education and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for Colleges.

Singapore

In Singapore, there are four school terms. Terms 1 and 2 are referred to as Semester 1, as terms 3 and 4 are referred to as Semester 2. Each term consists of ten school weeks. Term 1 starts the day immediately after New Year's Day. If the first school day is a Thursday or a Friday, it is not counted as a school week. After term 1, there is a break of a week, called the March Holidays. Thereafter, term 2 commences and is followed by a break of four weeks, the June Holidays. It is followed by term 3, after which there will be another break of one week, the September Holidays. Then, term 4 would start, and after it there is the December holidays, which would be either five or six weeks long, depending on whether the first week of the year was counted as a school week. Students are also given days off on public holidays, as well as Children's Day, Youth's Day, Teacher's Day and the day after National Day.

Turkey

Winter holidays last from late January to early February (2 weeks). Summer holidays last from early June to mid September (14 weeks).

There are Ramadan Feast (3 days) and Sacrifice Feast (4 days) holidays, but dates of these holidays changing every year because Ramadan & Sacrifice Feasts are calculated according to Muslim calendar. If these feasts are at the middle of the week, then the break becomes a full week break with the Arefe (the day before the feast) day.

Europe

Austria

In Austria, the summer holidays are usually between early July and early September. There is, with the exception of Vorarlberg and Salzburg, no Autumn break but there a Christmas break (from December 24 until January 6) and an Easter break (lasts for 10 days). The mid-term break in February lasts for a week and the Whitsun break lasts for 4 days including the weekend. There are also free days during religious holidays (Assumption, Ascension, Corpus Christi etc.).

Belgium

For primary schools, the summer holiday in Belgium starts on July 1 (one or two days earlier if the 1st is a weekend day) and ends on September 1 (2 or 3rd if the 1st is a weekend day). Secondary schools and universities often close about a week earlier, as soon as school results have been processed and published. A week of autumn break is usually scheduled during the week of all-saints, November 1. The winter- or Christmas holiday lasts two weeks and encompasses both Christmas and New Year's Day. The dates for both the one-week spring break and the two week Easter holiday vary. In catholic regions where carnival is celebrated, spring break usually takes place during the carnival week. To get al balance in school days between spring break and summer holiday, the two weeks of Easter holiday can take place with Easter both at the beginning, the middle or the end of the holiday period. In some cases, when Easter is at the complete end of the holiday, Easter Monday serves as an additional day off.

Croatia

In Croatia, there are three breaks throughout the school year at public schools.

Other free days include public holidays and local patron saint days.

Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, the summer holidays begin at the end of the school year on June 30 and end at the start of the school year in the first week of September. Then there are autumn holidays: two days plus October 28 (the date of the proclamation of Czechoslovakia). The winter (Christmas) holidays last usually from December 23 to January 2. There is also a one-day half term holiday on January 31. The spring holidays are a week long and may occur in February or March, depending on the region, sometimes they continue with Easter holidays (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Monday). There are also free days such as May 1, May 8 and September 28. The school director is authorised to add up to three more free days during the school year. The school holidays are determined by the Ministry of Schools for each school year and are valid for every basic and high school.

Denmark

In Denmark the summer holiday lasts 6 weeks. Most schools also have one week of winter holiday and one week of autumn holiday, usually in February and October respectively. Finally, the schools are closed from just before Christmas until just after New Year.

Estonia

In Estonia, summer holidays last for three months from June to August. Christmas holidays last for two weeks, autumn and spring holidays are each one week.[6] In 2016 Estonian Ministry of Education decided to add a new holiday, starting from 2017, to balance the learning weeks. There are going to be 5 holidays: Autumn holiday (21.- 29. October), Winter Holiday (23. December- 7. January), a new holiday (24. February- 4. March), Spring holiday (21. April- 1. May) and Summer holiday (12. June- 31. August). Summer breaks starts 1 week later.

France

French school holidays are scheduled each year by the Ministry of Education. This can lead to overcrowding in tourist resorts such as the Mediterranean coast and the ski resorts.

To alleviate this problem, the holiday schedules are staggered by dividing the country into three zones. Despite these measures, the synchronized school holiday schedules still cause some crowding effects, as families head to popular holiday locations all at the same time. This can result in price increases and availability problems in some locations during the school holiday periods. Holidays are divided into three separate zones except for the first two holidays: All Saints and the Christmas / New Year.

Germany

In Germany, summer holidays are mostly between July and late August, with regional differences. Some regions begin as soon as early to mid June, some end as late as the middle of September. They last 6 weeks. Other holidays are around Easter (2 weeks), in autumn (1–2 weeks) and from mid- to end-December to the beginning of January (2 weeks). Depending on the state, further holidays can be around Pentecost or in winter between the first and the second half of the school year.

Greece

In Greece, there are three breaks throughout the school year at public schools.

Ireland

The dates for the start and the end of the school year at both primary and post-primary level are not fixed, but mid-year breaks are standardised.[7] Due to the start of certificate exams, post-primary schools are usually not open for tuition after the Friday before the June public holiday (the first Monday in June) in any year. The school year generally starts in the week in which September 1 falls, with a minimum of 183 teaching days in primary schools but only 167 days in secondary schools.[8][9]

There are mid-term breaks in October and February, which last one week. There are two-week breaks at Christmas/New Year as well as at Easter. Summer holidays start around the last week of May or the first week of June for secondary schools, or the end of June for primary education, and end around the last week in August or the first week in September. The Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate exams start on the first Wednesday in June, and last for two and a half weeks, intruding on students' summer holidays.

Italy

In Italy, most school holidays are determined by the Ministry of Education, University and Research, and are valid for all public schools of every order and grade. There are summer holidays from mid June up to the second week of September, except for students taking final exams in the Elementary, Middle and Superior schools, as those exams can go on until mid July. Christmas holidays start on December 23 and end on the first or second working day after January 6;the summer holidays in Italy about 12 weeks, other holidays include one week around Easter as well as one day on December 8 (Feast of the Immaculate Conception), two days for October 31 and November 1 (All Saints), the national holidays of April 25 (Liberation day) and June 2 (Republic Day), as well as the Workers' Day (May 1). Locally, school authorities have freedom upon the establishment of the lessons calendar to grant further vacation days on important local festivals (e.g. the local Patron saint day).

Latvia

In Latvia, summer holidays last for three months from June to August. Christmas holidays last for two weeks, autumn and spring holidays are each one week.

Lithuania

In Lithuania summer holiday for 9th and 11th grade begins few days later than 10th and 12th grade students. This is due to exams for those grades. In the past, upper level Lithuanian student had around 70 days of holiday. However, now the holiday lasts almost three months.

The Netherlands

In the Netherlands, summer holidays last for six weeks for all Schools. The country is divided in three regions which start their summer holidays one week after another. Summer holidays usually start in mid-July and end in late August. Dutch elementary and high school students also have a one-week autumn holiday in mid October, two weeks of Christmas holidays, usually the last two weeks of December, as well as one week "crocus/spring holidays" in February (for the south during Carnaval), and "May holidays", which last one week for high schools and two weeks for elementary schools. May holidays span a period of national holidays such as King's Day (former Queen's Day) (April 27), Remembrance of the Dead (May 4) and Liberation Day (May 5) and sometimes include Ascension Day and Pentecost.

Norway

In Norway, school holidays vary by region. Generally, the school year starts around the third week of August. Most regions have a week off at the beginning of October (weeks 40 or 41). Christmas holidays start some days before Christmas Eve and end in the first week of January. There is one week of winter vacation in late February (weeks 8 or 9). Easter holiday is from Palm Sunday to Easter Monday or a day or two later, and Summer holidays begin some days before midsummer.

Poland

All public schools have the following breaks/holidays:

Romania

Summer holidays run from June to early September and are around 12 weeks long. Spring break - one week in April or May (it depends on when Easter is in that year) Winter break - two weeks ( it starts in the penultimate week of December and it usually ends on the first or second Monday of January)

There is a break in February between the first and the second semester - one week

Fall Break (just for the primary school) - one week in October

Russian Federation

All public schools have the following holidays:

Slovakia

In Slovakia, summer holidays begin at the end of school year on June 30 and end at the start of the school year in the first week of September. The autumn holidays are at the end of October. The winter (Christmas) holidays usually last from December 22 to January 6. There is also a one-day half term holiday on January 31. The spring holidays are a week long and may be in February or March, depending on region. Next are the Easter holidays (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Monday). There are also free days such as May 1, May 8, September 1, September 15, and November 17. The school director is authorised to add up to three more free days during school year. The school holidays are determined by the Ministry of Schools and are valid for every basic and high school.

Slovenia

In Slovenia, Summer holidays begin on June 24 (June 25 is National day, which is also a public holiday) and end on September 1. Other holidays are usually one week long, they expand if national holidays fall on the work days. The Autumn holidays ("Krompirjeve počitnice" - "Potato holidays") begin around October 31, which is Reformation day and November 1 which is called "All Souls Day". The New Year holidays usually start around Christmas and last until January 1. January 2 was once a work and school free day, but that's no longer the case. In the middle of February there are Winter holidays, which are divided into two parts. In each part there are other parts of Slovenian students who have holidays. The second part of the Winter holiday usually ends at the end of February. The shortest holidays are First May holidays, as their name suggests they begin on around May 1 (usually on April 27 which is Uprising Against the Occupation Day which is also national holiday) and last until May 2, which is also a national holiday. There are also free days such as February 8 (Slovenian cultural festival - Prešeren Day) and Easter Monday, other national holidays like August 15 (Feast of the Assumption) fall on school holidays and are more important to adults. Students from last year of Primary and Secondary schools usually start Summer holidays one week earlier due to the final exams. This holidays are valid for Primary and Secondary schools only and are determined by the Ministry of Schools. University students however have Summer holidays till October 1 and usually have only one holiday and that is the New Year holiday but it depends on every single college which days will be free for students. For example, in year 2015 most university students also had First May holidays. Short holidays usually begin after exams and depend on how good students are writing their exams or how many exams they've taken for each term. Most of the time university students have holidays on national holidays.

Sweden

In Sweden, the school year starts around mid or late August (September 1 at the universities). The week before All Saint's Day (taken as a Saturday around November 2) primary and secondary school students have an autumn holiday. Christmas holiday starts around December 15–16, depending on the day of the week on which Christmas Eve occurs. It usually ends in the second week of January (January 6 is also a public holiday). In the 8th–10th weeks after New Year, primary and secondary school students have one week of winter vacation; the exact week varies by location. Easter public holidays last four days from Friday to Monday. Easter school holidays are either the week preceding Easter or the week immediately following, depending on location. Primary and secondary school summer holidays last about ten weeks, starting in the second week of June.

United Kingdom

School holidays in the United Kingdom follow a standard pattern, with a school year of 190 days of teaching, beginning with the Autumn Term,[10] but the exact timing varies between countries and counties.[11] Schools set their own school holidays, but most state schools follow the pattern recommended by their local authority. Independent private schools tend to set longer holidays than state schools.[12]

England and Wales

Summer holidays in State schools are usually six or seven weeks long, starting in late July and ending in early September. Schools have Christmas and Easter holidays, each usually lasting about two weeks. The school year is split up into three sections: Autumn term (between Summer and Christmas); Spring term (between Christmas and Easter); and Summer term (between Easter and the Summer holiday). Roughly half-way through each term, pupils will get one week off school, known as half-term.

Independent schools often have longer holidays including up to 10 weeks for Summer, but often have longer school days and sometimes lessons on Saturday mornings.

See School Holidays in England for the impact of school holidays on tourism and life for parents and others.

Scotland

In Scotland the academic year usually begins in the third week of August. In October, there are one or two weeks off, which is the half-way point between Summer and Christmas holidays. The Christmas holiday usually begins a few days before December 25 and ends a few days after January 5. There is up to a week off half-way through the Spring term and a two-week break for Easter. After Easter is Summer term and the 3rd half term break is the half-way point to the summer holidays. The summer holiday usually begins at the end of June for most pupils in primary 1–7 and secondary years 1–3. Years 4, 5, and 6 have a period of exam leave at the end of May or early June, but may return for the last few weeks before the summer holiday starts.

Northern Ireland

Schools in Northern Ireland have similar school holidays to those in the Republic of Ireland. Schools in Northern Ireland have shorter mid-term breaks than those in the rest of the UK and, to substitute, a longer summer holiday, with the entirety of July and August off.

Australia and New Zealand

In Australia and New Zealand, academic years for primary and secondary institutions are divided into two semesters, with each semester being further divided into two terms (thus totalling four terms per year). Although historically the year was divided into three terms with an extended Easter break interrupting the first term, the year has been divided into four terms since the late 1980s (with the exception of the Australian state of Tasmania which did not change until 2013).

Following southern hemisphere seasons, the main summer holiday between academic years encompasses most of December, all of January and sometimes a few days at the beginning of February, and always encompasses Christmas and New Year as well as Australia Day on 26 January.[13] In year 12, however, the term ends in November; for those who go on to university, the term starts in March. New Zealand celebrates Waitangi Day on 6 February; the summer holidays in New Zealand may or may not extend as far as that day, depending on the year.[14][15] There is typically a break of two weeks mid-semester (i.e. after Term 1 and after Term 3) and a break of three weeks in the middle of the year, although this can vary between jurisdictions. In the year 2000, due to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the state of New South Wales extended the break after Term 3 to three weeks, compensating by reducing the break in the middle of the year to two weeks.

Historically, the Term 1 holidays have been scheduled around Easter, reflecting the three-term system's notion of an extended Easter break within Term 1; although since the mid-1990s this has gradually changed, and now only Queensland and Victoria tie the school holidays closely to Easter; the remainder of Australia and all of New Zealand now have a fixed length to Term 1 which leads to the Easter period falling within Term 1 in some years with an early Easter, such as 2016.

Typically, the Term 1 holidays will run for two weeks within April; the mid-year holidays encompass the last week of June and the first two weeks of July; and the Term 3 holidays encompass the last week of September and the first week of October. This varies between jurisdictions, and of course exact dates depend on what day of the week these respective months begin, as (with the exception of the beginning and end of the academic year), terms tend to begin and end with full weeks.

Common practices and effects

Summer holidays for most children are a time to relax, enjoy themselves, and catch up on studies, or to spend time with family or relatives. Many families travel together on school holidays.

School holidays have many effects on a country, ranging from the price of travel and holiday accommodation, which increase as demand increases while children are off school, to a change in crime rate: Example UK crime rate monthly figures. Traffic congestion and heavy passenger loads on public transport on school run routes may be worse on school days during term time. The number of families taking holidays away from urban areas can reduce traffic and use of public transport in cities while loading long-distance highways and means of transport.

In some countries, including Germany and France, where many families travel to their holiday destinations, the start and end dates of school holidays in different regions are staggered to reduce the heavy traffic and pressure on means of transport that would otherwise occur on these dates.

References

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