The Ministry of Education and Science (MES) has changed the dates of school holidays at the request of teachers and parents.
Thus, the students will have a longer autumn vacation, and the spring vacation will not merge with the Easter holidays.
The students’ autumn vacation will be from October 31 to November 3, the spring vacation from March 29 to April 6, and for the twelfth graders – from April 4 to 6. (Easter in 2025 is on April 20.)
Christmas vacation it will be from December 21 to January 2 inclusive.
Mid-term vacation – February 5.
In the draft schedule proposed by the ministry, a vacation of 10 consecutive non-school days was foreseen for the students from the 1st to the 11th grade in the period April 12 – April 21 inclusive, and for the twelfth graders 5 days of rest – from April 17 to April 21 inclusive . This distribution also included the Easter weekend. In the process of public discussion, the opinion prevailed that the spring vacation should not be combined with the Easter holidays.
The Ministry has also taken into account the received requests for changes in the holidays for students at Christmas and New Year.
The project proposed a longer winter vacation of 13 days (December 24 – January 5 inclusive) at the expense of only three days off at the beginning of November (November 1 – November 3) and one (February 4) between the two school terms.
After the numerous opinions and proposals, this decision has been revised and the Christmas vacation will start from December 21 and continue until January 2 inclusive, and the midterm is moved to February 5 (Wednesday). This also allows for an increase in the fall vacation, which will be from October 31 to November 3.
To offer this increased number of days off, national external assessment exam days become school days for all students.
Until now, the exams in the 7th grade in Bulgarian language and literature and in mathematics were on a non-school day.
In the previous year, for the first time, the national external assessment for the 10th grade was held on a school day, which the system handled without disruption. This will apply in the 2024/2025 school year and for 7th grade, allowing for most days off during the school term.
In order to avoid misunderstandings, in the order determining the dates for the exams, it is explicitly written that for students in the 7th and 10th grades, appearing for the national external assessment in Bulgarian language and literature and in mathematics, the academic day ends with their laying.
For the rest of the students, the principals create an organization for conducting classes and activities, providing opportunities to work on projects, outsourced training, distance learning in an electronic environment, and other appropriate forms, so as not to interfere with the conduct of exams and to guarantees peace of mind for those attending them. The school directors issue an order and inform the parents about the created organization.
The dates for the exams of the national external assessments in Bulgarian language and literature and in mathematics remain as they were proposed in the project of the Ministry of Education and Culture – June 18 and 20 (7th grade) and June 13 and 16 (10th grade), respectively.
For fourth-graders, the Bulgarian language and literature exam will be on June 3, and the math exam on June 4. The mandatory state matriculation exams and the state exam for acquiring a professional qualification will be on May 21 and 23.
As a result of the comments received during the public discussion of the draft timetable, the second academic term for students from 1st to 3rd grades will end on June 2, 2025, Monday, for twelfth graders on May 15, and for students from 4 . to 6th grade on June 16.
#vacation #dates #students
