Short school year
In Germany, a short school year or long school year is a school year that lasted shorter / longer than a calendar year because the date for the new school year was postponed.
History of the start of the school year
The beginning of the school year was not uniformly regulated in either the German Empire or the Weimar Republic . The school year began in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century and, since 1920, also in Bavaria at Easter . In most other European countries the school year started after the summer holidays.
In 1941 the beginning of the school year was set for September throughout the German Reich . This was reversed after the end of the Second World War by the occupying power in the British zone and, except in Bavaria ( American zone of occupation ), also in all other countries of the western zones of occupation , as their ministers of education decided almost unanimously in August 1948. In the Saarland , too , the start of school was postponed from autumn to spring after integration into the Federal Republic (January 1, 1957). The Düsseldorf Agreement (1955) of the Conference of Ministers of Education had recommended this to Bavaria without success.
With the Hamburg Agreement of October 28, 1964, it was decided to start the school year on August 1, as in Bavaria and neighboring European countries, and to extend compulsory schooling to nine years.
Postponement of the start of the school year after 1964
Two short years of schooling were carried out in Lower Saxony, Bremen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein, Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg, from April 1 to November 30, 1966 and from December 1, 1966 to July 31 1967. On December 1, 1966, new school beginners were admitted, the other pupils were transferred to the next class as at the end of every normal school year. In the course of this measure, two school classes also completed their Abitur in 1966, the first class in spring, the next in autumn (at the end of the first short school year).
West Berlin
In West Berlin, two school years existed side by side until 1976. The last Easter schooling took place in 1966. These students were grandfathered, they stayed in the Easter rhythm until they entered upper secondary school. The introductory phase to the upper level of the gymnasium was only three months long for these pupils, it ended in the summer vacation of 1976. The beginning of the upper level was therefore set for August, the rest of the school hours were changed. The 1967 school enrollment took place on September 2nd. The classes were very full, as many more children were required to attend school because the deadline was changed to July 1st. In 1966, a large number of so-called “application children” started school at the age of five, as they would have been seven years old when they started school in 1967. From 1967 to 1972, the juxtaposition of the beginning of the school year meant that more children were able to enjoy a preschool, as teachers were vacant until autumn after leaving elementary school at Easter. "Playgroups" were held to prepare for the first grade.
Individual evidence
- ↑ www.ovmg.de ( Memento of the original from December 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Bags in August . In: Der Spiegel . No. 45 , 1964 ( online ).
- ↑ Limit of what is bearable . In: Der Spiegel . No. 4 , 1966 ( online ).
- ↑ Like in war . In: Der Spiegel . No. 18 , 1966 ( online ).
