Explore the countries that Organise Your Exchange is active in and take a look at the relevant rules and laws that apply in your country
Parents can request a leave of absence for their child in advance from the headteacher, proprietor, or someone authorised by them (see Regulation 10).
There are two possible justifications for being absent from school to participate in a cultural exchange. In both cases, the final decision rests with the school.
Exceptional circumstances
An absence may be authorised if the school agrees that the exchange qualifies as an ‘exceptional circumstance.’ This must be requested in advance by the parents and approved by the authorised person (see paragraph 11 of Regulation 11).
Approved educational activity
Alternatively, the exchange may qualify as an ‘approved educational activity’ if certain conditions are met (see paragraph 11 of Regulation 10). This typically requires a formal agreement between the student’s school and the school abroad.
Parents should always submit requests for absence in advance to the headteacher or designated staff member, following the school’s specific policy and procedures.
For planned absences, such as an exchange, the legal guardians of the student must inform the school principal in advance, specifying the reason.
Depending on the circumstances, a formal request to the relevant education authorities might be necessary. This request will be treated by those authorities taking into account the opinion of the principal.
The relevant law text can be found here and further practical government information can be found here.
The law and government website instructions are not very specific about the precise conditions for granting permission.
However, any request should be made at least one month in advance and directly to the school principal.
The German school laws are not nationally determined but rather on the Bundesland level.
This article, which is not a legal or government text, suggests that an absence is likely to be granted for a school exchange and provides some guidelines on how to request it.
In any case, you should discuss the applicable rules and specific situation with your school.
Besides the regular reasons for being absent, such as illness or family events, students can receive permission to be absent from school for 10 days per year for any reason that the principal considers important. The relevant article in Dutch law can be found here.
For absences longer than 10 days, a government official (leerplichtambtenaar) decides, taking into consideration the position of the principal. An example of the instructions for requesting a longer absence in Rotterdam can be found here.
Though this is not specified in the law, the absence should be requested at least 8 weeks in advance.
The request should be made to the principal according to the process determined by the school.
The Law on Education (latest version from 2020 can be found here) does not explicitly specify the rules or valid justifications for being absent from school.
You should always discuss the absence with your school. This article from El Pais provides some guidelines for communicating with the school to request a non-standard absence.
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