After last week's widespread school closures, school managers have said that it would be 'unfair' to parents and teachers to cut short Easter holidays to make up time.
The snow and ice, as well as Storm Ophelia in autumn, have caused many schools to lose a week or more of tuition.
To make up for these 'unforeseen' closures, schools may use up to three days of Easter holidays, according to a Department of Education circular.
The Catholic Primary School Management Association says that this move is not needed, the Irish Times reports.
Seamus Mulconry, the association's general secretary, told the Irish Times, "I think attempting to make up for lost time during the Easter break would be unfair both to parents and teachers as many will have already made plans and booked holidays for the Easter period which is only a few weeks away.
"The relevant circular gives a great deal of flexibility as to how schools can make up the time and ensure the curriculum is taught and that flexibility should be fully utilised before looking at other measures.
“The important thing is to teach the curriculum; the days are a means to an end not an end in themselves.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Education stressed the 'significant flexibility' given to schools as far as their options to make up for tuition hours lost to the adverse weather.
“One option is to reduce the Easter holidays, but this is one of many choices available to schools,” he noted.
The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) also emphasised the other options available to make up for time lost to unforeseen disruptions.
"I wouldn’t anticipate that primary schools will shorten their Easter holiday because there are so many other levers to press. They can prioritise literacy and numeracy within teaching and learning, for example, or shorten non-tuition activity . . . there’s real flexibility," a spokesperson for INTO told the Irish Times.
The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI), which represents secondary school teachers and third level institution lecturers, also said there are other ways to make up this time.
The circular mentioned learning in the classroom instead of on tours and ensuring pupils in examination years keep up their attendance through the end of May.
A TUI spokesperson said, "We believe that the utilisation of these measures will allow schools to make up deficits in tuition that have occurred as a result of the closures."
The Joint Managerial Body and Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) and other school management bodies representing most second-level schools said that students sitting their Junior and Leaving Cert this year will be prepared despite the recent school closures. They said that teachers will put in extra effort to ensure pupils are ready for State exams.
In fact, the Association for Community and Comprehensive Schools requested that teachers complete online training programmes last week during school closures so they could have more teaching time once school was back in session.
There are no current plans to revise the circular, according to a department spokesperson, and it will remain in place until the 2019/20 academic year. It will be reviewed by autumn 2019 at the latest.
