Vol. 512 No. 6
381 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science if the requirement of attending school on 183 days in the school year for primary children is monitored by his Department; the instances, if any, in which less than this standard is accepted by his Department; and, if so, the circumstances in which days can be written off. [26761/99]
Boards of management are charged with the direct governance of schools and as such are responsible for ensuring that schools meet the prescribed minimum requirement of being open for 183 days each school year. Department circular 11/95, Time in School, advised school authorities that in order to guarantee that its school is in operation for the prescribed minimum number of days, each managerial authority, in planning the school year, must make allowance for days on which the school may have to be closed due to unforeseen or exceptional circumstances.
School authorities therefore retain discretion in the matter of school closures and given that there is scope for adjusting the school timetable during the year, it is expected that boards would make every possible effort to ensure that any closures necessitated by prevailing circumstances would be compensated for by a revision of the school timetable for the remainder of the year.
If a matter relating to the length of the school year of any particular school is raised with my Department, my officials will correspond with the school authorities with a view to ensuring that the school complies with the minimum requirement.
