When: Annually, July/August/September.
The months of July, August or September mark the summer holidays for the educational regions central, north and south in the Netherlands for the school holidays. With this, the government wants to ensure that not everyone goes on holiday at the same time.
About the region classification in the Netherlands
The Netherlands is divided into regions when it comes to education. The Central Netherlands, North Netherlands and South Netherlands regions all have different schedules for certain school holidays. This was started by the Dutch government in the 1990s to spread the holidays. This prevented congestion on the roads to holiday destinations and an economy that came to a standstill during certain periods. Holiday staggering was first implemented during the holiday period in the summer months. Later, other holidays also became part of the holiday staggering scheme.
De grote vakantie (the big holiday)
Because of its length, this summer holiday is sometimes referred to in Dutch as the grote vakantie (big holiday). This is the period in the year when most people take their longest vacation. That formed a problem, so it was decided that holiday staggering would solve this problem. So, the northern region starts the summer holiday at a different date than the other two educational regions. This holiday staggering only applies to school holidays.
A prolonged period of holiday during the summer period was introduced in the Netherlands in the nineteenth century. Today, primary school pupils get six weeks’ holiday. Contrary to what was believed for a long time, the summer holiday or that “big” holiday did not come about because there was a lot of agricultural activity. Research from 2014 showed that this did not influence the decision to establish a long period of holidays. Besides, it is debatable what you can consider “long”. The Netherlands is certainly not a frontrunner. The motivation for arriving at this period of holiday had to do with the heat during the summer. Concentration in the usually hot classrooms was impossible and people wanted to go for recreation. This also happened in other countries. School holidays in other European countries sometimes last even longer than in the Netherlands. Think of Greece and Italy (six to 14 weeks of holidays). Yet other countries have equivalent summer holidays. Think of Denmark and Germany, for instance.
Belgium has school holidays that last from 1 July to 31 August for primary and secondary education (secondary education). In higher education, the holidays last slightly longer. This is also the case for Dutch secondary, higher and university education institutions.
More holiday staggering
Holiday spread is not just for summer holidays. The spread is there for most holidays. The idea arose in the 1980s to do something about the exodus that occurred in the country during the summer months. It also created an additional burden on certain facilities. What this did not address was the interruption of work in certain economic sectors. We also know this period as the “construction holiday” or the “construction leave.” This period falls in late July or early August. Work in this case is characterised by high or higher temperatures. However, it is questionable to what extent this is still relevant, as temperatures may also rise in the previous period or the period after.
Information on this website
In some cases, the dates mentioned on this website are not yet final. Then they are provisional dates. They must then be fixed. Therefore, always check the dates via this website. Because some school holidays are therefore provisional dates, no rights can be derived from the dates mentioned on this website.
Information about the image at the top of this page:
Summer Holidays Dutch Region North.
Source: Unsplash.
Summer Holidays Dutch Region North.
Source: Unsplash.
Related
Related Events
