Extending the summer time holidays could be costly | EUROtoday

Families who journey with college kids shortly earlier than or after the vacations with out the consent of the college are committing an administrative offence. Depending on the federal state, the wonderful could be very excessive.

One or two days can add as much as a number of hundred euros: households who begin their summer time holidays earlier or lengthen them past the top usually journey extra cheaply. Not to say that oldsters' nerves are spared: fewer site visitors jams imply shorter journey occasions and fewer stress. But this backfires: mother and father of truants face heavy fines.

Because lacking college with out permission is an administrative offence. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the wonderful for that is between 300 and 1,000 euros. According to the Düsseldorf district authorities, each dad or mum with custody faces the wonderful for each single school-age youngster within the household. This sort of particular go away and repeat circumstances are “given a particularly high weight when determining the penalty”, stated a spokeswoman for the Münster district authorities in a survey carried out by the dpa information company.

Fines of as much as 1,500 euros in Rhineland-Palatinate

The new college 12 months begins in Lower Saxony on Monday – in line with the Ministry of Education, anybody who doesn’t return from trip on time dangers a wonderful of between 5 and 1,000 euros. In the case of negligent violations, a most wonderful of 500 euros could be imposed. The colleges report these absences and the municipalities then take motion.

In Bremen – additionally on the finish of the summer time holidays – in line with the training division, fines of between 35 and 250 euros plus an administration price of 28.50 euros are threatened.

Rhineland-Palatinate has set a wonderful of as much as 1,500 euros for continued violations of obligatory college attendance, with the state's Interior Ministry making it clear that the utmost price is used “in cases of particularly stubborn school refusers.” However, the youngsters additionally face so-called college disciplinary measures, corresponding to a written reprimand and even expulsion from college.

Airport reviews touring kids

The authorities are partly sensitized to monitoring down kids touring at suspicious occasions. The airport in Memmingen, Bavaria, stands out on this regard: it usually reviews checks shortly earlier than the beginning of the vacations. For instance, at some point earlier than the winter holidays in February 2024, officers caught a number of school-age kids who had reported being sick whereas touring. According to police reviews, college authorities had been knowledgeable and the mother and father had been reported.

A brazen case just lately made the rounds on the finish of the college 12 months: Border cops in Memmingen checked a 30-year-old girl and her seven-year-old daughter two days earlier than the beginning of the vacations. According to the police, the mom stated she needed to go away the nation due to a loss of life and that the college knew about it – a lie. The officers referred to as the college in query, however the seven-year-old didn’t attend it.

A name to the precise college lastly revealed that the kid had been reported sick. The consequence: The mom should count on a wonderful of as much as 1,000 euros, in line with the police.

About 2,000 circumstances in NRW

Compulsory college attendance, which is enshrined in legislation, is a precious asset, explains a spokeswoman for the Lower Saxony Ministry of Education. This obligation applies simply as a lot earlier than and after college holidays. “In the case of deliberate but unjustified absence from school, parents should also be aware of their role model function.”

Nevertheless, fairly a number of do it: In Germany's most populous federal state, North Rhine-Westphalia, round 2,000 procedures associated to holidays had been initiated by the district governments final 12 months. This was the results of a dpa survey of the related intermediate authorities.

However, the figures are prone to be a lot larger: the statistics don’t at all times present whether or not fines imposed for truancy relate to vacation extensions. And they don’t embody procedures for major and secondary colleges, in addition to a big proportion of particular colleges. These are managed by the native college authorities.

In Bremen, the federal state with the fewest inhabitants, in line with present data, greater than 150 fines had been issued for unauthorized vacation extensions within the final college 12 months 2023/24. In the earlier college 12 months, there have been 141 fines.

Leave of absence solely in distinctive circumstances

However, go away of absence from lessons is mostly potential – by software and for an essential purpose, as is the case in Rhineland-Palatinate. School administration decides at its discretion when such an essential purpose exists; one instance given is the funeral of a member of the family.

“However, booking a holiday trip that begins before the holidays or ends after the holidays is not usually an 'important reason',” explains a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry. If mother and father report sick or have doubts concerning the accuracy of the data, a certificates – in distinctive circumstances even from an unbiased medical officer – could be requested.

For North Rhine-Westphalia, a decree from the Ministry of Education states: “Immediately before and after the holidays, a pupil may only be granted leave of absence if the purpose of the leave of absence is clearly not to extend the school holidays, to take advantage of cheaper holiday rates or to avoid possible traffic peaks.”