Holidays booked out as school year is standardised

Niall Murray, Education Correspondent

All schools will close for two weeks at the end of March, in the first standardised Easter holidays. Up until now, those in different parts of the country and even neighbouring schools often began and ended such breaks on different dates.

The standardised school year, agreed between the Department of Education and teacher unions a year ago, sets out mid-terms, Christmas and Easter breaks for primary and post-primary schools through to March 2008. The intention, overseen by former Education Minister Noel Dempsey, was to give more planning freedom to families whose children attend more than one school.