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READER QUESTIONS

Reader question: Can I take my child out of school in Germany to go on holiday?

Flights and hotels are usually cheaper at off-peak times when schools are not on holiday. We look at a reader's question on whether Germany allows children to miss a few days of school to ease family holiday costs or dodge busy periods.

Published: 30 June 2023 16:18 CEST
Updated: 16 October 2023 17:23 CEST
Families wait in line at Düsseldorf Airport.
Families wait in line at Düsseldorf Airport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Roland Weihrauch

Autumn is in full swing and many people in Germany are planning trips to enjoy some well-earned time off work over the upcoming Herbstferien. 

But what happens if your child misses a day or two – or even longer – of school to go on holiday with the family?

The short answer is that skipping school with no justified reason is not allowed, and Germany has some strict rules on this.

In Germany there is a Schulpflicht (school obligation), which means that children are required to go to school and participate in lessons. 

By law that means parents can’t take their children out of school to travel – at least outside of the designated school breaks, which vary from state to state. 

If they do so without prior agreement, they could face fines and even imprisonment in severe cases. 

Police in Germany do at times patrol airports to check that families are not breaking the rules. 

According to Rhineland-Palatinate broadcaster RPR1, some families in Bavaria experienced this first-hand earlier this year. They were caught by police landing at Memmingen airport with school-age children on the first day of school after the holidays – without having a school exemption for the children. 

German travel publication Travelbook got in touch with some states for more information on whether parents can take their children out of school for travel.

“Parents are not allowed to take their children to travel out of school, because vacation trips are not justified except in exceptional cases,” said Michael Kern, a spokesman for the Bavarian state ministry of education and cultural affairs.

This applies “regardless of whether legal guardians take teaching materials with them on the trip and assure that they will work through them with school-age children”.

In another example, the education ministry in North Rhine-Westphalia said: “Parents are responsible for ensuring that a child attends classes. They cannot take their child out of school for vacation purposes.”

However, in exceptional cases children can be excused or given leave from school in Germany. Ultimately the decision lies with the school administration. 

For families who want to travel outside of school holiday time, they should apply to the school for a leave of absence. It is also worth talking to the class teacher first to keep them in the loop. 

READ ALSO: Why are flights to and from Germany so expensive at the moment?

High school graduates read through their German Abitur exams at Spohngymnasium in Bavaria.

High school graduates doing their German Abitur (leaving) exams at a school in Bavaria. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Felix Kästle

What are the fines for taking children out of school?

Parents who are caught taking their child or children out of lessons on holiday without an excuse face a fine, which varies depending on the federal state and the school authority.

In general, the fine can be up to €2,500. In Rhineland-Palatinate the limit is €1,500, it’s €1,000 in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, and up to €2,500 in Berlin.

Can you say your child is sick?

If you are denied a leave of absence from the school, it would be a little suspicious to call into the school to say your child is sick at the time you planned to go away. 

In this case, the school has the option of requesting a medical certificate. If parents provide one, the school will accept it. However, there is a chance that the school would investigate this further depending on the circumstances. 

So is it worth it? It’s a personal decision but it doesn’t seem like it. The risk of being caught playing truant is relatively high and can cause a lot of trouble with the school or even the police if it escalates. If you also get fined, the earlier start to your holiday would not be worth it financially. either.

Vocabulary 

Fine – (die) Geldstrafe

Holidays – (die) Schulferien

To skip school or work/play truant – blaumachen 

We’re aiming to help our readers improve their German by translating vocabulary from some of our news stories. Did you find this article useful? Let us know.

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SCHOOLS

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

A key programme for digitalision in German schools expires on May 16th. Has the initiave been successful - and what comes next?

Published: 16 May 2024 16:57 CEST
What is Germany's digital pact for schools and how does it affect pupils?

When it comes to digitalisation, Germany is a country very much under construction – and nowhere has that been more apparent than in schools. 

During the Covid-19 pandemic years, pupils suffered major setbacks as schools struggled to set up the infrastructure for remote and digital learning. 

This failure to set up digital learning quickly enough is seen as a key reason for Germany’s dismal performance in recent rankings of schools around the world.

Perhaps the most shocking of these came from a 2018 PISA study that ranked Germany 66th out of 78 countries in the availability of digital learning tools and 76th out 78 in the digital skills of teaching staff.

Desperate to turn things around, the federal and state governments launched their ‘Digital Pact for Schools’ back in 2019, earmarking a total of €6.5 billion for improving things like Wifi, the availability of digital equipment and administrative support.

Five years later – as the scheme expires – there are signs that the project has been a success. 

READ ALSO: German school pupils plummet to ‘lowest score ever’ in international rankings

How has the Digital Pact changed schools in Germany?

The €6.5 billion investment package consisted of €5 billion for boosting digital infrastructure in schools, €500 million for administrative support, €500 million for digital tools for teachers and a €500 emergency package for helping schools get set up for remote learning during the pandemic.

This was divided between the 16 federal states, with larger sums going to the states with the biggest populations and the highest number of schools. 

According to the Ministry of Education, around 90 percent of this sum has been either spent or earmarked since the fund was set up, with schools mostly using the money to purchase equipment like tablets and laptops for their classrooms. 

Out of the some 32,000 schools in Germany, around 29,000 benefited from the investment, the ministry revealed.

In the state of Bavaria alone, the Digital Pact helped fund 280,000 additional tablets in schools, bringing the total number up to 336,000. The number of digital classrooms, meanwhile, rose by 53,000 to 77,000 and the number of classrooms connected to wifi jumped by more than 60,000 to 101,000. 

Summing up the progress made in the last half decade, Stefan Düll, president of the German Teachers’ Association, said: “Most schools now have a good internet connection right up to the edge of the street,” even if no high-speed internet is available in the area. 

READ ALSO: School drop-outs rise across Germany as resources and teachers spread thin

According to the headteacher, there has also been significant steps forward in learning platforms, training for teachers and the availability of devices like tablets in schools. “Teaching can now utilise digital possibilities in many places,” he added. 

Is there still room for improvement?

Despite the investment, progress has been much slower in some regions and there are still many schools that don’t have access to wifi at all.

Düll also pointed out that, for schools to maintain high standards, there needs to be continuous investment for renewing subscriptions and replacing outdated or broken devices. This hasn’t always been forthcoming, he said. 

In addition, teachers often lack the administrative support they need to ensure that a digital lesson actually takes place in the case of technical problems. When it comes to training courses to get set up for digital learning, teachers are often unable to find the time while working more than 40 hours per week and coping with ever-worsening staff shortages.

School pupil in Germany

A school pupil studies history on a laptop at school in Germany. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Marijan Murat

Finally, Düll sees room for improvement in the government’s attitude towards artificial intelligence (AI) and finding safe and ethical ways to incorporate it in the classroom.

“AI has an incredible amount of potential, an incredible amount of opportunities for our country as a whole, for Germany as a business location,” he said, “and Germany still has the chance to be at the forefront.”

However, since the current Digital Pact only mentions AI in passing, schools currently have to shell out for this themselves – and licensing software with high data protection standards doesn’t come cheap. 

Will there be a Digital Pact 2.0? 

There should be, but currently it’s unclear what form it will take or how it will be financed. 

Though the new pact is due to kick off in 2025, Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) is currently locked in a battle with the state culture ministers over where the money for the next investment programme should come from.

Previously, 90 percent of the funding came from the federal government, while just ten percent was put forward by the states. This time around, however, Stark-Watzinger is demanding a 50/50 split and also wants more say in how the programme should work.

One key sticking point is the amount of funding put into additional training for teachers. “The Digital Pact 2.0 must not become a mere order list for digital devices,” the FDP politician said recently. “Teachers are central to good digital education and need appropriate further training.”

Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) in Berlin

Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) in Berlin. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christophe Gateau

From the Education Ministry’s perspective, the next Digital Pact should expire in 2030 and function as the last major investment from central government. 

However, the states disagree on almost every front.

Not only would state education ministers like to see the 90/10 funding continue, but they also reject the idea of the federal government interfering on what the money should be used for. That’s largely because, under Germany’s federal system, states are primarily responsible for governing schools and education. 

In addition, the Länder reject the idea of an end date and would like to see the investment continue indefinitely.

READ ALSO: Six surprising facts about Germany’s school system

It’s still unclear when the next Digital Pact may be finalised. Relations between Stark-Watzinger and the state culture ministers have soured to such an extent that the FDP politician refused an invite to the next Culture Ministers’ Conference (CMK) that’s due be held in Saarland this June.

That means the deadlock is likely to continue into the foreseeable future. 

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