Heat-free at schools in Saxony: Who really decides?

Heat-free at schools in Saxony: Who really decides?

Summer is in full swing, and with it the oppressive heat, which often leads to discussions at schools in Saxony. Clemens Arndt, press spokesman for the State Office for Schools and Education, made it clear to MDR SACHSEN that there is no uniform legal regulation in Saxony for what is called “heat-free”. Rather, it is up to the individual schools to decide whether to cancel or shorten lessons, depending on local conditions and the current temperatures.

As temperatures rise, uncertainty among students and parents also increases. The school management decides on site whether heat-free periods are granted. A frequently mentioned value is at least 25 degrees Celsius. However, the specifications are variable and can vary greatly depending on who is responsible. In large cities such as Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz, school management has sole decision-making power, which can ultimately lead to different regulations in different grade levels. While in many other federal states only primary school students and those in secondary school (5th to 10th grade) benefit from the heat-free rules, the situation is different in Saxony - here you are on your own when it comes to information and regulations.

The responsibility lies with the schools

The decision as to whether lessons take place or not depends largely on the respective school management. Many schools often tend not to cancel lessons completely, but rather to shorten them in order to still give students a certain amount of learning time, even when temperatures skyrocket. However, information about protecting schools against heat is rare. Here the responsibility lies with the respective school authority and the specific protection against heat often remains unclear.

It is to be expected that these heat-induced decisions will continue to be a regular source of discussion in everyday school life. Especially in the current summer, when the heat not only causes sweating but also the formation of worry lines, the question arises as to how well schools are prepared for extreme weather conditions.

In a nutshell, the regulations for heat-free vary greatly and at the end of the day are often a decision that depends on the local school management. It is entirely understandable that this variability leads to confusion, and we can only hope that more clarity and uniform standards will be created in the future to better guide students and parents through the hot days. If you would like to find out more about the regulations in the individual federal states, you can find further details at spiegel.de and swp.de.