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Children in a tug of war: Hamburg and Berlin pull together when planning their holidays
Photo: MARK SAMPSON / IMAGO
Which federal state starts the summer holidays and when?
At first glance, the new table looks like it always does: Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria have secured the traditional vacation dates at the end of July and beginning of August; Holidays.
But this matrix is a political issue that has been debated for two years - and individual countries have now actually achieved an improvement for their students.
The decision about the summer vacation period was actually due in 2019, but the federal states had "completely caught up" in the solution, as participants say.
The main problem: The ministries of education do not decide alone, they have to come to an agreement with the ministry of economics, especially in the coastal countries with strong tourism - and that had completely different ideas than the education politicians in Hamburg and Berlin, for example.
Adjust vacation times
The city-states had requested that the vacation only start in July.
And Berlin also wanted to align the period between the countries.
If one country starts in mid-June and the other in early August, uniform Abitur dates are difficult to set.
Some students would then have longer preparation times, others much shorter, so the argument goes.
The tourism industry, on the other hand, demanded the longest possible holiday corridor so that the beds are fully occupied from June to September.
Ultimately, all interests prevailed - from an educational point of view, to the disadvantage of the coastal children. With an alternating holiday beginning from mid-June to the end of July, they have the greatest fluctuations. Hamburg and Berlin, on the other hand, have achieved the greatest continuity - apart of course from the southern countries that have already been set. From 2025, the holidays will always start sometime in July.
In response to a request from SPIEGEL, the Ministry of Education in Schleswig-Holstein emphasized that "the focus is always on educational aspects" in the holiday regulations.
Above all, it is important that the duration of the school half-year remains as constant as possible.
At the same time, "school organization, tourism, traffic and environmental aspects are taken into account."
The President of the Conference of Education Ministers and Brandenburg Education Minister Britta Ernst (SPD) said, "The new long-term summer vacation regulation of the Conference of Education Ministers creates planning security for schools, for the summer vacation of families with school-age children and for the tourism industry."
Holiday corridor is shrinking
The period over which the holidays extend has actually been shortened overall - with one exception in 2029. In the other four years, the countries have moved closer together, the total holiday period is only 80 days. Most recently it was 85. In 2029 it will be 87 days.
The deadlines that were decided on “ensured more educational equality among the federal states because the school years were about the same,” said the outgoing Berlin Senator for Education, Sandra Scheeres (SPD).
She was delighted with the result for Berlin: This was "good news for the Berlin families".
The early start of the holidays created great time pressure at the schools in order to distribute all the exams in the second half of the year in a way that is suitable for students.
The new solution brings more continuity in the school year planning and ensures more educational equality among the federal states.