When I’m writing this, on week 8, the school children of Southern parts of Finland have a winter vacation (talviloma). School children in central parts have their vacation on week 9 and children in northern parts on week 10.
Nowadays quite many people travel also abroad to sun and warmth during this vacation, but still major part of the population having winter vacation spend it downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, skating and in other winter activities. That is why the vacation is spend during three weeks in Finland. Otherwise the skiing resorts, especially in the notrhern parts of Finland, would be totally crowded. Even with this system the week 8 and 9 are fully booked in those resorts. Place in the car-train taking cars and passengers up north has to be booked almost a year before.
Winter vacation is also called skiing vacation (hiihtoloma) in Finland. The school children in Finland have had this vacation officially since 1933, when the administration of schooling accepted it as part of syllabus.
The idea was introduced already in 1926 by a teacher Santeri Hirvonen from Kouvola. He wrote in magazine, that the Finnish school children should have one week skiing vacation, because when skiing the children would get fresh air and endurance for the rest of the school year. The idea was taken forward by Lauri Pihkala, who we Finnish also know as the “father” of pesäpallo. Pesäpallo is the Finnish version of baseball and was depeloped by Pihkala in 1920s from so called kingball, played already in Finland, by bringing to it elements from the American baseball. Pesäpallo is Finland’s national game.
But back to this winter vacation. The working-age population in Finland also have right to winter vacation. The annual vacation amount for employed people in Finland is 30 days, from which 24 days has to be held in the summertime (between 1.5. - 30.9.) and the rest 6 days the worker can then have outside the summertime. People with school children often take their 6 days then during the school’s winter vacation. The normal Saturdays are also counted to the vacation days, although we follow a 5 days’ work week in Finland, hence the one week vacation is 6 days.
The Finnish children have compulsory education from the year they turn 7 to age of 17, or when they graduate from the comprehensive school (takes 9 years, so usually in the year the child turns 16). The school year in Finland starts in the mid of August and ends on week 22 (a Saturday between 29.5 - 5.6.). Additionally the children in elementary school have a right to at least 10 days of Christmas vacation (starting usually few days before Christmas and ending just after Epiphany), autumn vacation (few days or a week in October, the local municipality can determine the length) and one week skiing vacation.
A short post this time, because I’m in a hurry to go out and enjoy the fresh snow and vacation. :)
