Khom calls for two-week cut to Austria’s summer holidays

Manuela Khom, leader of the Austrian People’s Party in Styria, has called for summer holidays to start a week earlier and be shortened by two weeks overall, reviving a long-running debate, ORF reported. Opinions among people in Styria are divided.

Khom, the deputy governor of Styria, said the school holidays should be adapted to current conditions. She has written to Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr of NEOS asking him to examine the proposal. Wiederkehr spoke against shortening the summer holidays in September.

Khom said the changes would create longer periods of learning in autumn, better account for rising summer heat and ease the burden of childcare on families. She described the autumn holidays as valuable for students ahead of the demanding school assessment season and important for tourism in Styria, but said they come too soon after the summer break.

She also said Styria was disadvantaged because its summer holidays are set by law to begin a week later than in Vienna, where they start in late June or early July. The school year also starts a week earlier in Vienna. As a result, Khom said, more of Styria’s school-free period falls during the hottest weeks, while the gap before the autumn holidays is shorter. She said her proposed system should apply nationwide.