Parents disregard school holidays

The situation is familiar to many: Pupils Emil and Emma are going on holiday with their father in week 6, but the schools’ winter break is in week 7. However, the father is granted permission by the school leader to let the children miss five school days.

63 per cent of parents whose children are in seventh to ninth grade say that they have pulled their children out of school for holidays at least once, and nearly 25 per cent have done so repeatedly, according to a YouGov study conducted on behalf of Momentum.

Numbers also show that 50 per cent of parents with children in kindergarten to third grade have already taken their family vacation outside the scheduled school holidays.

Minister is shocked

By all accounts, this is the first study of its kind focusing on children’s non-attendance as a result of family holidays. Both school leaders and the Minister for Children and Education, Christine Antorini are shocked by the statistic.

“I don’t think it’s acceptable to keep the children out of school when you feel like it, just because the plane tickets might be cheaper,” Antorini told Momentum.

Anders Balle, Head of the Danish Association of School Leaders , wholeheartedly agrees:

“It’s a very unfortunate trend. Every time a child is pulled out of class to go on holiday, the pupil loses 2.5 per cent of the school year for every missed week, not to mention the potential working relationships lost along the way,” Balle told DR News.

A dilemma

However, Balle admits that some parents may find it difficult to get time off during the school holidays. He points out that the responsibility for unscheduled holidays lies solely with the parents.

The National Association of School Parents also calls the situation flawed. Chair Mette With Hagensen feels that sometimes, the nature of the parents’ work makes it impossible for them to take a vacation during the school holidays.

“To the parents, it’s a dilemma: either they can’t take their children away on holiday or the child will have to miss school.”

Hagensen explained that she herself has taken time off work to take her children away for extended weekends whenever possible to minimise the problem.

She added that it always falls to the parents to note what schoolwork their children may have missed during their holidays.