Winter Holidays For Schools In Uae
Nguyet Edmondson
An academic year or school year is a period that schools, colleges and universities use to measure the quantity of study that are often divided into academic terms.[1] During this period, students attend classes and do relevant exams and homework. It comprises school days and school holidays. Duration of school days, holidays and school year vary across the world.
School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which schools are closed or no classes or other mandatory activities are held.[3] The dates and periods of school holidays vary considerably throughout the world, and there is usually some variation even within the same jurisdiction.[4] The holidays given below apply to primary and secondary education. Teaching sessions (terms or semesters) in tertiary education are usually longer.
In countries with a Christian religious tradition, the Easter holiday takes place in the northern spring. The date varies because Easter is a movable feast, but also by country and level of schooling.[5]
In the northern hemisphere, the longest break in the educational calendar is in the middle of the year, during the northern summer, and lasting up to 14 weeks.[6] In Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia, summer holidays typically last three months, compared to six to eight weeks in Britain, the Netherlands, and Germany. In India, the summer holidays typically span a duration of one to two months, extending from May to June. In the southern hemisphere, the longest break in the educational calendar is in the end-beginning of the year, during the southern summer, and lasts up to 14 weeks, from December 21 to March 20.[4]
Summer holidays for most children are a time to relax, enjoy themselves, catch up on studies, or spend time with family or relatives. Many families travel together on school holidays. School holidays have many effects on a country, ranging from the price of travel and holiday accommodation, which increase as demand increases while children are off school, to a change in crime rate.[8] The number of families taking holidays away from urban areas can reduce traffic and use of public transport in cities while loading long-distance highways and means of transport.
In some countries where many families travel to their holiday destinations, such as the Netherlands, the start and end dates of school holidays in different regions are staggered to reduce the heavy traffic and pressure on means of transport that would otherwise occur on these dates.[9]
In Nigeria, the longest holiday is from July ending to first or second week of September for secondary schools and a longer duration within same period for tertiary institutions. Holidays are generally determined by schools and they start from July to early days in September.[10]
In South Africa, the main holiday usually lasts from early December to early or mid-January (5 or 6 weeks).[citation needed] There is an autumn break of up to 2 weeks in late March or early April, a longer winter break in late June and early July normally around 3 weeks, and a spring break in late September or early October which is 1 week.[11]
South African schools and universities are all closed on all South African public holidays. In terms of Public Holidays Act if the holiday fall on a Sunday then the schools are closed the next Monday.
In Brazil, summer holidays start in late November or early December and end in late January or early February.[12] Winter holidays are generally the entire month of July, while in some states it lasts during the So Joo recess.[citation needed] Some schools in the tropical north follow a different school year.[citation needed] The Brazilian Carnival is 40 days before Easter Sunday and those dates are not school holidays.[13] Some national and Catholic holidays are usually celebrated in 3 or 4 days, like Easter, Corpus Christi and Carnival.
In Canada, the school year typically lasts between 185 and 190 days. The summer holiday includes the months of July and August, with students returning to school in late August or early September, most commonly on the day after Labour Day. The winter break lasts for two weeks (sometimes a day or two longer), beginning on Saturday and encompassing Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The spring break is one to two weeks long depending on the city or province. Good Friday and Easter may or may not fall within spring break. The Thanksgiving break is a 3-day break that falls in mid-October.
In Ontario, the school year is regulated to last at least 194 days, with up to seven of those days being professional activity days, for a total minimum of 187 instructional days. Spring break (commonly known as March Break) is the third week in March.[14]
In the United States, there are typically 160 to 180 school days in a year; the exact number mainly depends on the state.[17] (although school years at colleges and universities are often shorter). Private schools tend to have classes for 170 days each year.
An academic year typically includes a fall and spring semester, with a shorter optional summer session. Many also have a short optional winter session or a wheel-rotation schedule year-round. Some operate on a trimester calendar.
It is often believed that when the United States was a primarily agrarian society, children were needed during the Northern Hemisphere summer months for farm labor. However, there is little evidence supporting this, with 19th-century rural schools more typically favoring a summer academic term and more vacation time during spring and autumn.[18]
Summer is still a popular time for family vacations, and most have a two or three-month summer vacation. The academic year typically runs from August or early September until the end of May or early June, depending on the length of the year and number of the holiday, vacation, and snow days occurring during the year. The year is divided into two semesters, three trimesters or four quarters, typically with a report card issued to students' parents at the end of each.
For college sports sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association and its associated conferences, their calendar for the year starts on July 1, with the year ending on the succeeding June 30, with other multiple calendars for each sport regarding recruiting and competition periods.
Colleges and universities vary widely. Some closely follow the K-12 break schedule, others have the same but longer breaks to accommodate students who live farther away and wish to return home for holidays. Most colleges and universities have the following breaks:
Most colleges and university years are divided into two semesters. The first starting from the beginning of the year (August/September) until mid-December, and the second lasting from January until early May. Winter and summer classes could be taken in between the breaks.
The academic year in India normally starts from June/July till March/April for students in Class 1 to Class 8. For students who are in 9/11, the class starts from June/July till February/March to ensure the teachers can complete the syllabus on time as they would promoted to class 10/12 early. The academic year for class 10/12 is from March/April till next year April/May. The students who are currently in or going into class 10/12 would get 1 month of summer break and one or two weeks of winter break based on the state in which they live. The summer holidays and vacations are as follows:
The Diwali break begins in either October or November, depending on the month Diwali occurs in that year. It lasts for about one week or two days. Christmas break starts on the last week of December (22nd or 23rd) and ends on the first week of January (5th) or might last for only two days and a one-day break for the New Year. The festivals Dusherra and Sankranti are also given holidays for half a month or four days.
In Tamil Nadu, one day leave is given for Deepavali. Tamil Nadu celebrates Pongal festival (Thai Pongal), a four-day festival which, according to the Tamil calendar, is usually celebrated from January 14 to January 17.
Christmas holidays are not usually given; however, some schools combine the Christmas holidays with the winter break. Schools in Uttar Pradesh give a holiday on Charan Singh's birth anniversary, and that is when the winter break starts for some. For some other schools, the winter break starts on 28 December and usually ends on the second weekend of the new year.
In Israel, the academic year is divided into two semesters. The first one begins in September or October (depending on the Hebrew calendar. Mostly a week or two after Simchat Torah), and it ends 13 weeks after in January. Then the next six weeks of January and February are dedicated to the first semester exams. Afterwards, in late February or early March, begins the second semester until mid- or late June. When the months of June and July are dedicated to the second semester exams while late testing can be by middle of August.[19]
In Japan, the new academic year starts in early April.[20] In most schools in Japan, there are four main breaks: one or two weeks from late March to early April (Spring)[note 1], about a month from late July to the end of August (Summer), the Health & Sports Day weekend (Fall), and two weeks over the year-end and New Year period from late December to early January (Winter). There are some exceptions in northern Japan, where schools set a longer winter break, while cutting the summer one shorter. Additionally, there are 4 national holidays falling between 29 April and 5 May (where the remaining days inside that period are also converted to public holidays), sometimes called "Golden Week."[21]
In Malaysia, there are 2 main semester holiday and an additional of mid-term break and year end holiday. The mid-year holidays last for two weeks, from late May until mid-June, in between the two school terms. The year-end holidays last for six weeks, from mid-November until early January, in between two school years. Each school term has a mid-term break; one week in March for the first semester and one week in the months of August or September (variable) for the second semester.