Vol. 571 No. 2
248 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will reverse his decision to refuse approval to the Lord Mayor of Cork to grant a half day to the students of the individual schools on the day the Lord Mayor visits those schools in view of the tradition in Cork of Lord Mayors visiting schools on an annual basis to talk to young people about civic life, a tradition which goes back to the 1920s. [21416/03]
The social partnership agreement 2003-2005, Sustaining Progress, provided for modernisation of the education sector. As part of the modernisation process, arrangements with regard to standardised mid-term breaks and holiday periods at Christmas and Easter were agreed following discussions at the teachers conciliation council which involves union and management interests. My Department notified the agreed arrangements to school authorities last May.
The whole thrust of the modernisation process in the education sector is to minimise the disruption to the education of primary and post-primary pupils and to ensure as far as possible that students' entitlement to the prescribed minimum number of teaching days, 183 full school days in the case of primary schools and 167 full school days in the case of post-primary schools, is guaranteed.
My key concern, and I believe it is what is expected of me as Minister, is to secure the integrity of the school year. This does not necessarily rule out half-day closures but it does require that they happen within a context or framework.
Once schools adhere to the agreed standardisation, they have local flexibility in determining how they make up the required number of teaching days. My Department does not centrally determine whether or not a school opts to have a day or half-day closure for any particular event once the overall number of teaching days is delivered by the school over the course of the year. This approach aims to strike a balance between allowing schools some local discretion while at the same time ensuring that pupils get their full entitlement to education. It is of course essential that there be the greatest possible consultation with parents and that sufficient notice is given in relation to any school closure.
