Vol. 488 No. 1
277 Ms Clune asked the Minister for Education and Science the steps, if any, he will take to ensure that schools have common starting and finishing dates and common mid-term breaks, for example, two days in October and February or March around which all schools would have to fix their mid-term breaks. [5615/98]
I have no plans at present to introduce new procedures for dealing with schools' time-tabling arrangements.
School authorities are obliged to ensure that schools adhere to the prescribed minimum number of teaching days per annum. At primary level the minimum number of teaching days per school year is 183, while at second level, schools are required to be open for teaching for 167 days. Subject to the requirement in the primary sector that the schools must close for the months of July and August, the choice of vacation days on which schools will be closed is a matter for individual boards of management or vocational education committees, which are charged with the direct governance of schools.
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. Schools authorities must, therefore, retain discretion in this matter.
