Should Czechia shorten summer holidays? Minister floats a change to 100-year-old rules

Should Czech students really get two months off every summer? Education Minister Robert Plaga has raised the question, noting that the current July and August summer holiday schedule has remained unchanged since 1925.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Plaga noted that the current dates for summer holidays in July and August have been the same for students since 1925.

"But in those 100 years, work, families, travel, and school itself have changed. Is it time to spread out the holidays differently during the school year, or are you okay with it this way?" 

His post, made while he was on vacation by the sea, quickly attracted thousands of comments. The reactions were divided.

Some people argued that the summer break should actually be longer, particularly because of increasingly hot classrooms in June and at the end of the school year.

Others, especially parents of younger children, said the two-month break should be preserved or even shortened. If students are going to remain in school through the hottest weeks of the year, some argued, schools also need better ways to keep classrooms cool, including air conditioning.

Czechia's roughly two-month summer break is close to the European average. According to Eurydice, summer holidays across Europe range from about six to 14 weeks, with an average of around 10 weeks.

One commenter argued that families should keep July and August because parents typically have only 20 days of annual leave and may not be able to afford summer camps or childcare for the rest of the time.

Others criticized Plaga for focusing on the holiday calendar while other problems facing Czech education remain unresolved, including changes to curricula, teaching assistants, delayed school starts and a shortage of qualified teachers.

Some teachers and school directors, meanwhile, supported spreading some of the summer holiday across the school year.

Martin Švejnoha, director of Prague's Eliška Krásnohorská Gymnasium, suggested that some summer days could be moved to the autumn, Christmas or Easter holidays, while also adjusting the beginning and end of the school year.

PAQ Research analyst Karel Gargulák told iDnes that two months without school can disrupt children’s routines and learning, particularly for those from less stable home environments.

But the Parents’ Union says there is no mass demand from parents to shorten the summer break, warning that spreading holidays throughout the year could simply spread the childcare burden across more of the year.

The current July-August arrangement dates back to 1925, but the idea of a long summer break is considerably older.

The modern school calendar developed partly around the needs of an agricultural society, when children were needed to help with farm work during the summer. Over time, the long break became a fixture of school life even as family and working patterns changed.

Today, Czech students typically have six school holidays during the year, ranging from single-day holidays to the two-month summer break.

That does not mean the calendar has been entirely untouched in recent years.

On March 31, Plaga exceptionally shortened the school year, allowing students to finish classes on Friday, June 26. That means this year's main summer holiday lasts 66 calendar days.

Less than five months later, the same minister is asking whether two consecutive months of summer vacation may be too much after all.

Despite the latest debate, parents should not start rearranging their summer plans.

Ministry spokesman Ondřej Macura told Novinky that the ministry has not considered changing the established holiday system.

The dates and length of school holidays are set by the Education Ministry in a decree for each school year, while the school year itself is defined by law as running from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31.

For now, that means Czech students can expect the same two-month summer break they have had for generations.