Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

EDUCATION

EXPLAINED: The key dates and school traditions in Germany

Pupils in Germany have been starting school or heading back to the classroom after the summer holidays. We break down key dates as well as the culture and vocabulary to be aware of.

Published: 2 September 2022 17:14 CEST
Updated: 22 August 2024 14:36 CEST
Youngsters go to school in Düsseldorf on August 8th.
Youngsters go to school in Düsseldorf on August 8th. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | David Young

What’s happening?

Parents are breathing a sigh of relief across Germany. Yes, it’s time for children and young people to return to the classroom.

In Germany, more than eight million children and young people attend schools.

In some German states, pupils have already gone back to the classroom, including Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, North Rhine-Westphalia and Thuringia.

In Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, school starts again on August 24th. In Berlin, Hamburg, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein, children go back around the end of August or start of September. In Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, pupils and teachers go back around September 8th. 

This means that students everywhere across the country will soon all be back in class, ready for the new school year. 

READ ALSO: Why Germany is facing a shortage of ‘up to 40,000 teachers’

Key vocabulary

Children in Germany first attend a Grundschule, which has a broad general curriculum. It’s similar to a primary or elementary school. 

Children carry special bags for their first day of school in Germany.

Children on their first day of school in Germany. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Philipp Schulze

Starting in the fifth year – depending largely on their academic achievement and parents’ final say – children can go to a Hauptschule or Realschule. In these two types of schools kids take vocational classes combined with vocational training.

Another option would be for them to attend a Gymnasium, which is more academic-oriented and prepares children for an Abitur (a school-leaving certificate which leads to a university education).

READ ALSO: German school or international school – which is best for foreign parents?

Holidays

Each state of Germany’s 16 Bundesländer (states) is responsible for the school calendar. That means that school holidays vary depending on the region you’re in.

School holidays include:

Autumn holidays – Herbstferien 

Christmas holidays – Weihnachtsferien

Winter holidays – Winterferien

Easter holidays – Osterferien 

Whitsun – Pfingstferien 

Summer holidays – Sommerferien

For a break down of all the holiday dates across German states, check out this calendar.

Culture around starting school 

Starting school is a big deal in Germany. And you may be surprised to find that it usually takes place on a Saturday. 

Youngsters head off for their enrolment day known as the Einschulung with their parents. It’s a day of celebration that can continue with families often having meals and parties in the afternoon after the official ceremony ends. 

On Einschulung day, youngsters are also presented with their very own Schultüte (school gag). Parents stuff these bags that are shaped like cones with huge amounts of sweets and other treats to celebrate the start of school. It is sometimes known as a Zuckertüte (sugar bag).

This tradition is said to date back to the early 1800s in Saxony and Thuringia. Starting in the larger cities, it quickly spread, becoming an integral part of school enrolment across Germany.

To many Germans, these cones are a significant symbol of starting school and entering a new phase of life.

READ ALSO: 7 cultural differences between raising kids in Germany and the US

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

FAMILY

EXPLAINED: How Germany plans to solve its Kita crisis

The German government has approved a new bill designed to tackle the ongoing crisis in nursery schools. Is it likely to make a difference for parents?

Published: 15 August 2024 15:17 CEST
EXPLAINED: How Germany plans to solve its Kita crisis

Whether its short-notice closures or endless strikes, sending children to nursery school (Kita) in Germany can be a rollercoaster ride for parents. 

Low resources and chronic understaffing have become a daily reality in the country’s nurseries, and when they are forced to close due to staff shortages the burden falls on families to find alternatives. 

To try and tackle these issues, the German government is set to funnel €4 billion into daycare centres over the next two years. 

This was set out in a new amendment to Kita Quality Act, which was passed in the cabinet on Tuesday and will head to the Bundestag in September. 

Celebrating the move, Family Minister Lisa Paus of the Green Party said that, despite budget restrictions, the government was sending a “strong signal that we want to improve the quality of Kitas in Germany”.

READ ALSO: What is Germany’s digital pact for schools and how does it affect pupils?

Nevertheless, critics say it doesn’t go far enough to address the scale of the problem. 

What’s changing under the new law?

Not much right away. In fact, much of the bill simply shores up federal funding for nurseries in the states, which will receive €2 billion from the central government each year. 

However, the rules around how this money can be spent are getting stricter.

The focus will now be on retaining and recruiting childcare staff, ensuring kids get enough physical activity, and providing healthy, sustainable meals.

In a significant change, states will no longer be allowed to use this money to reduce childcare fees. Instead, they’ll need to funnel it into extra staffing and improving the quality of care.

Does that mean higher costs for parents?

The Family Ministry doesn’t think so. 

Currently, only six states use federal funds to offer lower Kita fees for parents: Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt, Bavaria, Thuringia, Saarland und North Rhine-Westphalia.

Other states like Berlin that offer free or low-cost childcare use money from their own state coffers instead. 

According to ministry, currently states are allowed to spend 49 percent of federal funds on fee reductions, but most have only needed around 15 percent. This money could be replaced from state budgets, they argue.

READ ALSO: Could parents in Germany pay higher Kita fees to combat staff shortages?

Why is staffing such an issue? 

In Germany’s ongoing skills gap, workers in education and childcare have been among the most highly sought. 

Experts say that a maintaining a good teacher-student ratio is essential to offering quality childcare, while low staff numbers can overburden teachers and be harmful to children’s wellbeing.

kita in Dortmund

Children at a Kita in Dortmund help with planting in February. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Bernd Thissen

According to a recent report by the Paritätischer Gesamtverband, Germany has 125,000 fewer workers in its daycares than it currently needs.

Other estimates from the Family Ministry suggest that Germany will be missing around 90,000 Kita staff by 2030. 

That said, the bill stops short of laying out concrete measures for attracting and retaining staff. Instead, the ministry is hoping that offering better working conditions will encourage workers to stay in the job for longer. 

What do people think of the new law?

The Education and Science Workers’ Union (GEW) supports the shift away from fee reduction, emphasising the importance of improving the quality of childcare instead. 

However, they stress that families should still have financial relief to support them with childcare costs. 

The GEW has also called for minimum quality standards nationwide – something the new law doesn’t establish, despite being mentioned in the government’s coalition agreement.

Tobias Ernst, chair of the Child Research Foundation, echoed this sentiment, telling FAZ: “The fact that there are to be no nationwide standards is a missed opportunity.”

READ ALSO: How expensive is childcare across Germany?

Meanwhile, the left-wing Linke party slammed the the government for not setting out more concrete measures for increasing staff numbers in Kitas.

“The ministry should finally say openly what it would take to really change the shortage of skilled labour,” said Linke chairwoman Heidi Reichinnek. “You need money to enable a better worker-child ratio.”

SHOW COMMENTS