School life in Brazil

School hours and holidays

Due to the high number of students, Brazilian school hours are

usually divided into three sessions, from 7.00-12.00, 12.00-17.00
and 17.00-22.00 oclock. This fragmentation usually applies to
both private and state schools.

If a school is smaller it can choose to offer only one or two of these

sessions. A student usually attends only one session per day.
This is also designed to reduce the number of early school leavers.
Whereas compulsory education requires school attendance until the age
of 14 some students leave school earlier in order to work and support
their families. For those children the government has established evening
classes and also distance courses.
The regulation for school terms and holidays is run by the local
governments. The only requirements set by the Federal Government are
that July has to be a holiday month, that there has to be a break at the
end of a calendar year and that primary school students obtain at least
200 schooling days per year. It is then up to the municipalities to organize
the division of these 200 days. In spite of the individual regulation a
common standard regarding the holidays has come into being. A school
term runs usually from February to June and from August to December.