Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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73. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills whether the beginning of the new school year is governed in legislation; whether the issue is governed solely by guidelines issued by her Department; to give a summary of these guidelines for primary and secondary level schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52355/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The scheduling of the school holiday periods during the school year is agreed between the managerial authorities of schools, the teacher unions and my department for the purposes of standardising breaks at Christmas, Easter and mid-term. This is important to ensure certainty for the school community about the dates of school holidays.

My department’s policy on the agreed standardised school breaks is set out in Circular 0072/2022 titled “Standardisation of the School Year in respect of Primary & Post-Primary Schools for the years 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26” (www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/circulars/standardisation-of-the-school-year-in-respect-of-primary-post-primary-schools-for-the-years-202324-202425-and-202526/). As set out in Circular 0072/2022 (www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/circulars/standardisation-of-the-school-year-in-respect-of-primary-post-primary-schools-for-the-years-202324-202425-and-202526/)it is not a requirement that the commencement or end of the school year at primary or post-primary level should be standardised. It is the responsibility of the board of management of a school to ensure that primary and special schools are open for tuition for all pupils for a minimum of 182 school days, and that post-primary schools are open for tuition for a minimum of 166 days for all students.

The expectation is that the school year will normally commence during the week in which the 1st of September falls. However, a school year may commence in the week prior to that in which 1st of September falls in circumstances where otherwise it would not be practicable for the school to meet the overall requirement of a minimum of 166 at post-primary level or 182 days at primary level and in such a case, the school should ensure that the date of commencement is as close as possible to the 1st of September.

My department are currently reviewing Circular 0072/2022 which will set out the dates of the standardised breaks for the 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29 school years.