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| Although American students are gearing up for the start of school, these Brazilian students have been in school since February. |
Though families in the U.S. are gearing up for the start of school this month, the school year in some countries is well under way. School calendars vary widely across regions, even within a country, to accommodate climate and customs. The U.S. school calendar was established so that students could help families with the harvest, said Dr. Rena Shull, associate professor of education at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo. Also, until recently, classrooms were not air conditioned and educators didn’t want students sitting in stifling heat, Dr. Shull said. View a chart of school calendars in CFCA countries here. Climate explains many school calendars In southern and central India, the academic year begins in mid-June and ends the last week of April. “The month of May is usually extremely hot with high temperatures, and many schools would not even have fans in their classrooms,” said Suresh Singareddy, project coordinator for CFCA’s Hyderabad project. “There would also be a water crisis during these months.” But in Bhagalpur, in northern India, school runs from April to March, with breaks in May/June for the heat, mid-July to mid-August for monsoons, and one week in September for the Hindu festival of Durga Pooja. The southern hemisphere summer falls in December, January and February. Therefore, students in Chile and Peru attend school from March to December. Bolivian students go from February to November. Ecuador has two school calendars: one for coastal districts and one for inland and mountain districts. “The months of February and March are wetter along the coast, while the mountain zone rainy season occurs in August and September,” said Yoli Yelena Pinillo Castillo, Guayaquil project coordinator. “During this time, students are affected by many illnesses, in addition to floods, landslides and other natural disasters.” At one time, the Ecuadoran government tried to unify the calendars, Pinillo Castillo said, but one region lost too many school days. Students needed for harvests and holidays In some Central American countries, students enjoy a two-month break in November and December to help with the coffee harvest. But the primary reason is so families can be together for the Christmas season. Students in the Dominican Republic go to school from September to June, like in the U.S., except in the town of San Cristobal in the south. There, students attend school from January to September to help with the coffee harvest at the end of the year. CFCA sponsorship provides school-age children with the educational support they need, including help with tuition, uniforms, shoes, school supplies and textbooks, no matter when they attend school. Find your sponsored child’s school calendar here.
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