When: Annually, July/August/September.
From July to September, the grote vakantie (big holiday) or zomervakantie (summer holiday) takes place for the educational regions central, north and south. The Summer Holidays Dutch Region South, like the two other regions, has to deal with holiday staggering. So the summer holiday doesn’t start at one given point every year.
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.
Misunderstanding
An extended holiday period during the summer months was due to various agricultural activities that had to be carried out. A lot of “hands” and “little hands” were needed. Therefore, a longer break from school. At least, that was the thought for a long time about the origins of summer holidays. That is a misunderstanding. The summer holidays came from the desire of workers in particular to relax. So recreate. Pretty logical when you think about it. On the other hand, that desire emerged only later.
Holiday staggering(in Dutch: vakantiespreiding) is central when it comes to the educational regions central, north and south. Every region, including the southern region, starts its summer holidays on a predetermined date. There is an important component that must also be taken into account. What is also important that these rules only apply to the educational sector.
In Europe
Typically, most school summer holidays last about six weeks. This does not make the Netherlands unique. Countries like Denmark and Germany also have summer holidays consisting of about six weeks. Belgium has summer holidays from 1 July to 31 August. Other countries in Europe, such as Italy or Spain, have longer summer holidays for school-age children.
Because of its length, this holiday period is also known as de grote vakantie (the big holiday). It is the period when many people choose to go on holiday. Let this be precisely a problem. To avoid this, people decided to stagger holidays. This only applies to school holidays. This “big holiday” was introduced because there was a certain need. Research from 2014 showed that this did not stem from a need for children to work in agriculture, as had long been thought. The need was simply for a break to recreate. That need came later, incidentally. By the mid-nineteenth century, it was mostly a necessity perhaps. A need to think about education in the summer months. Whether this made sense in warm classrooms.
The holiday staggering from the 1980s onwards
There was a time when there wasn’t such a thing as holiday staggering in the Netherlands. When the Dutch government decided that this was a good idea, things changed. This was introduced in the 1980s.
Dutch government website
Always check the information on the Dutch government website. The dates on this website are indicative. The dates on the central government website are definitive. Where they are not definitive, this is indicated as provisional. No rights can therefore be derived from the Summer Holidays Dutch Region South data on this website. The most up-to-date data can be checked on this website. The information on the website is provided in Dutch, so you need to translate this information.
Information about the image at the top of this page:
Summer Holidays Dutch Region South.
Source: Unsplash.
Summer Holidays Dutch Region South.
Source: Unsplash.
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