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School, summer holidays too long? The cases of Italy, Austria and Spain

In the three European countries, with different starting points, families demand fewer days of summer closure

SCUOLA ELEMENTARE VITO DE FANO INIZIO DELL'ANNO SCOLASTICO 2023 CLASSE BANCO BANCHI LEZIONE MAESTRA LAVAGNA

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Key points

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Italy, up to 99 days of holidays. New calendars are being experimented with

Even in Italy, the debate on the duration of summer holidays (too many?) is more open than ever. Italian schools remain closed up to 99 days in June, July and August. 'Such a long summer break,' reads a recent report by UniCredit's Investment Institute, 'is not only "an anachronism dating back to the country's agricultural past, when fresh energy was needed for the harvest. It is also an anomaly in the European context and among advanced economies in general. And its macroeconomic implications are significant'. According to Unicredit's research, such long breaks 'ultimately hurt human capital accumulation, reduce women's employability, and exacerbate educational inequality'.

But let us see the 2025 calendar. Friday, 7 June marked the end of the 2024-25 school year for some 7 million Italian children and young people, who will return to class in the coming weeks according to a different calendar region by region. The first to return to class will be the pupils of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, for whom the bell will ring on 5 September.

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On the same day, kindergarten children in Lombardy will also start their activities. On 10 September it will be the turn of Piedmont, Veneto and the Autonomous Province of Trento to resume lessons, while on 11 September it will be the turn of Friuli Venezia-Giulia. Lombardy will return to the desks on 12 September. Most regional councils have instead set the return date for Monday 15 September: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Liguria, Marche, Molise, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria. Puglia and Calabria will close their re-opening calendar on 16 September.

Almost all regions then follow a classic pattern throughout the year, with long holidays at Christmas (about two weeks) and short holidays at Easter (about one week). But this year for the first time Emilia Romagna is studying an alternative calendar that envisages a teaching break between the end of the first and the beginning of the second term and the end of lessons only at the end of June. The school calendar could thus establish more holiday periods spread throughout the year and a shorter summer break, aligning with the European model.

AIE: spesa per libri di testo in aumento circa dell'1,7% su 2024

Austria, debate on summer 'too long'

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In Austria, summer holidays last between nine and ten weeks. In the three eastern federal states - Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland - they start between the end of June and the beginning of July and last until the end of August or the beginning of September. In the other six federal states (Carinthia, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol and Vorarlberg) they start a week later. The school calendar also includes:

- autumn holidays (about five days, in late October);
- Christmas holidays (two weeks, from Christmas to 6 January);
- semester holidays (one week, in early or mid-February);
- Easter holidays (seven to ten days, in mid or late April);
- Whitsun holidays (three to five days, in late May or early June).

In total, a school year has between 180 and 190 school days, depending on the rules of the individual Länder (public holidays and other days off). For years, the possibility of shortening the summer holidays or distributing them better has been discussed. The issue is mainly raised by parents' representatives, who complain about the difficulty of organising childcare during the summer. "I can personally confirm that this is a difficult task," writes Der Standard journalist Kim Son Hoang. On the other hand, the importance of the rest period for the younger ones is emphasised, while the older ones take advantage of the summer weeks for internships or temporary jobs. At the moment, however, there are no concrete plans to reduce summer holidays.

Spain, fewer school days but longer days

In Spain, summer holidays usually start in mid- or late June and end in early or mid-September, depending on the autonomous community and school grade. Primary schools restart between 5 and 10 September, while secondary and high schools resume around 15 September. Other school breaks include:

- Christmas holidays (approximately two weeks, from 22 December to 7 January, including Epiphany on 6 January);
- Easter holidays (one week, in March or April);
- numerous national or regional holidays;
- in some communities, such as Andalusia, the Semana Blanca, a week's holiday at the end of February.

The calendar has at least 175 school days per year, varying according to the holidays in the individual autonomous regions. Spanish schools have fewer school days but more daily hours than the OECD average, especially in secondary education. Hence the demands of families and experts to shorten summer holidays.

A recent report by the Catalan Institute for Public Policy Evaluation, entitled 'Review of evidence on the school day', has reopened the debate. The study notes that Spain is among the European countries with fewer school days: 175 per year, compared to 184 in Austria and Germany. However, the overall hourly load is higher than in other school systems.

With contributions from Kim Son Hoang (Der Standard, Austria), Ana Somavilla (El Confidencial).

*This article is part of the European collaborative journalism project "Pulse".

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