Summer vacation regulations: A question of fairness and justice, according to Teuber - Summer vacation raises questions about fairness, according to Teuber
Bavaria's summer holidays will commence on August 1 this year, according to the latest announcement. This decision, however, does not signal a unified summer holiday regulation across all 16 German states.
The Minister-President of Bavaria, Markus Söder, has emphasised that Bavaria has a unique holiday rhythm deeply ingrained in its DNA. Meanwhile, Sven Teuber, the Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of Education, has expressed concern about Bavaria's independent approach to holiday scheduling and advocates for a nationwide rotation system.
In the past, efforts towards a harmonised summer holiday regulation have proven unsuccessful. The long-standing practice of staggered breaks, particularly the ongoing debate between northern and southern states like Bavaria and Saxony, continues to be a unique feature in Germany.
Currently, each state sets its own vacation schedule, leading to a staggered system designed to manage traffic congestion, distribute tourism demand, and accommodate regional preferences. For instance, in 2025, Saxony started its six-week summer vacation at the end of June, while Bavaria's began in early August, and Baden-Württemberg follows a similar autonomous approach.
The education ministers from all 16 states coordinate through the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (Kultusministerkonferenz), which plans school vacation dates several years in advance. However, a unified regulation for a simultaneous summer break for all states does not yet exist. Any significant changes would take at least five years to implement.
Sven Teuber, the Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of Education, is currently working on a new regulation idea, which he believes is a matter of justice for families with school-aged children. He also advocates for the inclusion of all federal states in the rotating system of summer holidays.
The German Press Agency (dpa) reported that the education union GEW in Rhineland-Palatinate supports Sven Teuber's idea. They believe that the holiday regulation should always be educationally sensible and workload-friendly, aiming to enable pedagogical units and exam phases without excessive compression. Many teachers also support this change, as an earlier or later start of holidays outside the peak season can offer more favorable conditions.
Previous attempts to change the summer holiday regulation have faced resistance. For example, North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister of Education, Dorothee Feller (CDU), had demanded a change in the past, but met with resistance in Munich.
Kathrin Gröning, GEW chairwoman, supports the idea of a fair rotation of holiday times, stating that it increases the chance of affordable vacations for families and employees. However, the tradition of staggered breaks continues to persist, with no imminent implementation of a nationwide harmonised summer school break planned.
- The education ministers in Bavaria, under the leadership of Markus Söder, have maintained their stance on the state's unique holiday rhythm, despite calls from ministers like Sven Teuber in Rhineland-Palatinate for a nationwide rotation system in vacation scheduling, aimed at promoting fairness for families with school-aged children.
- Coordinated through the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (Kultusministerkonferenz), vocational training programs, as an integral part of education-and-self-development, might potentially be impacted by the ongoing discussions about the general-news topic of a harmonized summer holiday regulation across all 16 German states, due to the varying vacation schedules and their implications on the pedagogical units and exam phases.
