One week less of summer holidays: the school year will start on September 5th

BarcelonaA very important novelty for the 2022-23 school year: summer holidays will be shortened by one week and classes will start again on Monday 5 September for kindergarten and primary school children and on September 7 for secondary school students, and not on September 12 as happened in recent years. Schools have been informed via e-mail and the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, and the conseller of Education, Josep Gonzàlez-Cambray, have announced the change to the press from Baldiri Reixac School

Although formally the school holidays are only shortened by one week, the debate on the school calendar in Catalonia also affects a series of issues that go far beyond the classroom: from teachers' labour rights to the difficulties of finding a work/family balance, as well as climate or inequalities in access to leisure activities. It is difficult to fit all these opinions together and reach an agreement. The Department of Education has long admitted that the long summer break is not positive for students and that, in fact, it is an anomaly compared to other European school years, but it has been very cautious and said it would not make any changes without the consensus of the educational community.