First day of school
The first day of school is the first day of an academic year. This is usually in August or September in the Northern Hemisphere and January or February in the Southern Hemisphere, but differs from country to country.
North America
Costa Rica
The first day of school in Costa Rica is in early August. The Education Ministry changes the date every year to ensure 200 effective days are in the school calendar.United States
In the United States, educational policy is determined primarily at the state level and at the level of individual school districts. Therefore, there is no one particular day on which all schools start. During much of the 20th century, it was common for schools to start shortly after Labor Day, and in some areas of the United States, this is still the norm. However, it has become increasingly common for schools to start earlier in August or even late July. For example, in San Diego Unified School District, schools start on the last Monday of August.Asia
Pakistan
In Pakistan, the Government and Private schools hold their annual examinations in February-March Period. After Annual examinations, The First Day of New academic year of Students is between end of March or early April. Boards in Pakistan like BISE also start their first Day of academic year of Students in between March and April. Academic year of Students consist of summer vacations which are started on end of May or early June till 14th August. Academic Year of Students also consists of Winter Vacations which are started on end of December till first week of January.India
In India the schools re-open in June after summer holidays. This applies to whole of K-12 including elementary, secondary and higher secondary schools. State board schools hold their annual exams in the month of March or April and new academic year starts in June after summer holidays. However, this isn't the beginning of the new academic year for some boards like ICSE and CBSE. Their annual examinations are held in the month of February after which the new academic session begins in the last week of March. It continues until the first or the second week of May when the summer holidays begin. This summer holiday extends until June.Israel
The first day of school in Israel is September 1, or September 2 if September 1 falls on Shabbath. The last day of school is June 30 for elementary school and June 20 for secondary and high school.Korea
In Korea school year begins March 1st, but the first day of school in Korea is March 2nd -March 1st is national holiday- and the last day of school is early January or in February. It was common for schools to end second semester in late December, take a month off for winter vacation, come back to school for few weeks and than take a few weeks off for spring vacation before March. However this has changed a lot recently and many schools are rather choosing to extend second semester until early January and take a longer break until start of the school year in March.Philippines
The government school calendar in the Philippines usually begins on the first Monday of June. However, private schools have the exception to deviate from the calendar as regulated by Republic Act No. 7797. Some colleges or universities may start the school year in August. The school year must consist of 200 but not more than 220 days.Qatar
The first day of school in Qatar is on September 15, along with some of the Arab World countries.Singapore
The school year for all Singapore primary and secondary schools starts from early January and ends sometimes in late November. This takes into account 40 weeks of curriculum time for teaching and learning before the start of the national examinations, and six weeks of school vacation at end of the year for teachers and students.Indonesia
Usually in mid-July.Japan
The first day of school in Japan is on either April 7 or 8. School usually ends on March 24, giving the students one week between the years. School starts in April because of the National government in the Meiji era defined their financial year from April to March from 1886, forcing all the schools their financial year aligned. Since then the time Sakura, or Cherry Blossoms start to bloom is the season of the meeting and farewell for the Japanese. Before that, from seven century to 1872, the Japanese authority used their financial year from January to December. From 1872 to 1886, financial year changed three times including back to Jan to Dec.Vietnam
The first day of school in Vietnam is always on September 5, even in some schools, pupils and students have started studying earlier since August.Oceania
Australia
Generally, around February 1, dependent on individual state/territory.New Zealand
Generally, the last week in January, or first week in February.Papua New Guinea
Generally, the third week in January.South Pacific
Generally, the school terms starts from the 11th of February.Europe
Belgium and The Netherlands
The first day of school in Belgium is on September 1 or the first following Monday if September 1 falls on Saturday or Sunday.Bulgaria
The first day of school in Bulgaria is September 15, or the first work day if September 15 is a Saturday or Sunday.Croatia
The school year in Croatia doesn't have a fixed date, but it usually starts in the first half of September. It ends in the middle of June. Until 2019, school year started on the first Monday of September.France
The school year in France doesn't have a fixed date, but it starts at the beginning of September, in the first 2 weeks. It ends at the beginning of July, leaving approximately 2 months of summer break.Estonia
The first day of school in Estonia is September 1.Greece
The first day of school in Greece is September 11, or the first Monday following if September 11 is a Saturday or Sunday.Latvia
In Latvia the school year always starts on September 1, or the following Monday if September 1 happens to be a Saturday or Sunday.Lithuania
The first day of school in Lithuania is September 1, or the first Monday following if September 1 falls on Saturday or Sunday.Norway
The Norwegian school year does not have set dates, but starts in the middle of August and ends in mid June. The school year consist of 190 days and the exact dates are set by the County Governor in each county the preceding fall.Poland
According to a 2010 decree of Polish Minister of Public Education, the first day of school for regular compulsory education schools in Poland is on September 1 or the first following Monday if September 1 falls on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. The last day is the first Friday after June 18. Previously, according to a similar 2002 decree, the above exception was only for Saturday and Sunday, and the last day was the first Friday after June 18.Portugal
In Portugal the school starts at the beginning of September, in the first week. In 2019 the school starts between September 10–13.Romania
Schools in Romania start on a day decided by the ministry of education. In 2019 the ministry was undecided on a date for school to start, due to the fact that it was between September 9 and 16. Eventually, the ministry chose September 9. Most school years tend to start on Sep 9 or Sep 7. Occasionally, school starts on the 15 or 16 of September.Russia
Schools in Russia historically begin on September 1. This exact date for the country hasbeen fixed by the Decree of the Council of the People's Commissars in 1935 and was established officially by the Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union No. 3018-X in 1980. In 1984, September 1 was officially declared to be the Knowledge Day. If it falls on Sunday, most schools opt to hold on Sunday a traditional ceremonial line-up, which symbolically commences the school year, and begin actual lessons on Monday. Traditionally students bring flowers to the teachers.
United Kingdom
England and Wales
The first day of school for state schools in England and Wales varies by local authority and sometimes by school, but it is nearly always during the first week of September, or occasionally in the second week.Scotland
The school term in Scotland begins in mid- to late-August, more than a week earlier than in the rest of the UK. The precise date varies by local authority and sometimes by school.Slovenia
The first day of school in Slovenia is on September 1, or the first Monday following if September 1 falls on Saturday or Sunday. The school year ends on June 24, one day before the National day of Slovenia.Africa
Egypt
In Egypt, the academic year usually starts in the late third of September. For example, in 2019 school starts on Saturday September 21 – in 2018 it starts on Saturday September 22. These dates are issued by the ministry of education and ministry of higher education and are applicable on almost all the local schools and universities. However, private institutions may put their own starting date – usually they start earlier than the local ones –. The academic year consist of 2 semesters each of them lasts around 15 weeks and may vary depends on the grade that you are in or what are you studying in college.Morocco
In Morocco, the academic year commences in September and ends in June/early JulySemester 1 : From September – January
Semester 2 : From February – June/early July