School holidays

School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which schools are closed. The dates and periods of school holidays vary considerably throughout the world, and there is usually some variation even within the same jurisdiction. Governments often legislate on the total number of school days for state schools. The holidays given below apply to primary and secondary education. Teaching sessions (terms or semesters) in tertiary education are usually shorter.

In predominantly Christian countries, the "Christmas holidays" (or "winter break" or "winter recess" in some countries) include both the Christmas and New Year holidays. They normally last for about 2–3 weeks. However the Christmas holiday in Europe is shorter, sometimes two weeks or slightly less. In the southern hemisphere, Christmas is in the summer holiday period and the break is much longer (six to eight weeks).

In countries with a Christian religious tradition, Easter holiday (in the United States it is sometimes known as Spring Break or Spring Vacation) is a school holiday that takes place in the northern spring, with the date varying by country and level of schooling.

In all countries, the longest break in the school year is during summer, lasting between 5 and 14 weeks. In America, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania and Russia, summer holidays are normally three months, compared to six to eight weeks in Britain, The Netherlands and Germany.

In Nigeria, the longest holiday is from Mid July to second week of September for Secondary schools and a shorter duration within same period for tertiary institutions. Holidays are basically determined by schools and it starts from June to Early days in September.

In South Africa, the main holiday usually lasts from early December to early or mid-January (4 or 6 weeks). There is an autumn break of up to 2-week in late March or early April, a longer winter break in late June and early July, and a spring break in late September or early October. [1]

In Brazil, summer holidays start in early December and end in late January or early February. Winter holidays are generally the entire month of July. Some schools in the tropical north follow a different school year. The Brazilian Carnival is 40 days before Easter Sunday and those dates are not school holidays. Brazilian schools must have at least 200 school days. Some national and Catholic holidays are usually celebrated in 3 or 4 days, like Easter, Corpus Christi and Carnival.

In Canada, the summer holiday includes the months of July and August, with students returning to school in late August or early September. The winter break lasts for two weeks (sometimes a day or two longer), beginning on Saturday, that encompass Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The spring break is one to two weeks long depending on the city or province. Good Friday and Easter may or may not fall within spring break. In Ontario, Canada's largest province, spring break is a four-day-long weekend between Good Friday and Easter Monday.

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