In Switzerland, Ticino is the champion for the length of summer school holidays. These last no less than ten weeks. This long period without school is explained “by a summer that was generally warmer than in the other cantons, but also by the formerly agricultural tradition of this region, where children were used to helping their parents on the farm or at the alpage”, explains the Biennois Karim Saïd in an interpellation submitted this summer to the Grand Council.
In his speech, the socialist deputy notes that summers are becoming hotter and hotter in Switzerland. The canton of Bern is no exception, he notes, citing the year 2023 as an example, where the temperature reached 35.1 degrees on August 24, once the children had already returned to the school.
Organizational challenges
Bernese summers being, according to him, “more and more frequently comparable to Ticino summers”, he wonders whether we should therefore not take inspiration from this canton and postpone the start of the school year to the end of August, or even the beginning of the month. of September. Another solution would certainly be to sufficiently insulate schools or install air conditioning systems. But it would be “particularly expensive and not relevant from an ecological point of view”, he believes.
In return for this extension of summer vacations, he suggested reducing the length of fall and/or spring vacations. Or simply increase the annual duration of school holidays by one week, from 13 to 14.
Swiss
