asked the Minister for Education whether he is aware that during the emergency, school hours were altered to permit school children to partake of a mid-day meal at their homes, that during inclement weather since this alteration many children have frequently returned to their respective schools in wet clothes which is bound to have a very serious effect on their health, and that there is a strong public opinion in favour of a return to the original school hours, and if he will consider the desirability of obtaining the views of parents on the question by way of plebiscite or otherwise.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - School Hours.
The arrangement of timetables in national schools is a matter for the local managers subject to the requirements of the rules and regulations. It is open to the manager of a school to arrange the time-table so that the school day shall consist of one meeting with an interval for recreation of half an hour or longer but not, as a rule, exceeding one hour; or he may arrange to have a school day of two meetings with an interval of more than an hour between the meetings.
I have heard that many parents prefer the dual-day arrangement as it affords the children an opportunity of having a hot mid-day meal at home. Others favour the one-meeting school day with a short interval for recreation. It would obviously not be possible to devise any arrangement which would be acceptable to all concerned, and in the circumstances I do not see that it would serve any useful purpose to have the views of parents generally on this question obtained.