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Söder's dispute over summer holidays: teachers demand fairer rules!
Debate about summer holidays in Germany: Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg defend late dates, while other federal states call for reforms.
Söder's dispute over summer holidays: teachers demand fairer rules!
The discussion about the summer vacation dates in Germany never ends. While the debate was further fueled by the statements of Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder, the teachers' union remains outraged about the holiday periods set for 2025. In the eyes of the GEW, Söder's arguments regarding the distinction between Bavaria and other federal states are unacceptable. [Merkur].
Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg are the last federal states to start their summer holidays - a circumstance that is met with resentment, especially in other parts of Germany. The Education and Science Union (GEW) not only criticizes Söder's statements, but also calls for a fundamental reform of holiday planning in order to end this situation.
Dispute over vacation dates
The holiday dates in Germany are set until 2030. But the regulation for the subsequent stages remains controversial. Some federal states, including North Rhine-Westphalia, are signaling a desire for a fairer solution. Minister Dorothee Feller from the CDU is in favor of a later start to the holidays and is receiving support from several state colleagues. The NRW politician Sven Teuber from the SPD does not see the summer holidays as an exclusive state privilege and is calling for a nationwide regulation. This reflects a growing need for consistency in vacation planning. ZDF
Aline Sommer-Noack, deputy chairwoman of the Federal Parents' Council, brings an important point into play. She advocates a uniform, rolling holiday cycle that would make vacation planning easier for families. Parents and students from federal states who start their holidays early often face the problem that their appointments do not coincide with the main travel season. This causes frustration for families who rely on inexpensive travel.
Historical backgrounds
The discussion about holiday times in Bavaria has deeper historical roots. Originally, children in rural areas had to help with the harvest, which justified the late holiday season. Söder is sticking to this tradition, although critics such as the former Bavarian Minister of Culture Hans Maier point out that in 1971 no other federal state was willing to take over the late holidays. The GEW also sees a loss of valuable teaching time in the early holiday dates, as these decisions are often made for economic reasons.
Holiday planning in Germany is regulated by the “Hamburg Agreement” of 1964, which determines the total duration of school holidays. As part of this agreement, different regulations were created to take into account both learning times and student recovery periods. At the same time, however, the special regulations in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg result in many disadvantages for students and parents in other federal states. The brisk holiday traffic and the demand for accommodation during the peak season could be controlled much better through a nationwide harmonization of holiday times.
If these conflicts are not resolved soon, the question remains whether the summer holidays will continue to be a political issue in the future or whether an agreement will finally be reached that will relieve the burden on families. Decision-makers have a responsibility to take into account not only tradition, but also the needs of today's society.