Will Easter holidays be shorter for Irish schools after Storm Emma?

This could cause havoc for parents, children and teachers.

According to reports, there's a chance that Irish schools could see Easter holidays cut short this year on account of days missed during Storm Emma. Schools were forced to close last week when blizzard conditions sent the entire country into lockdown from Wednesday evening onwards. It's been suggested that the missed days could be made up at the beginning of the Easter holidays which would see school running for Monday 26 and Tuesday, 27 March instead of finishing up on the previous Friday as planned. Understandably, in the aftermath of Storm Emma, parents and teachers alike have been wondering if these reports have any merit. A spokesperson for the Department of Education told HerFamily:

"The Department’s guidance for schools in relation to making up for time lost due to unforeseen closures is set out in Circular 0009/2017 which is available here.

"Schools should firstly quantify the tuition days lost, before addressing the most appropriate way to make up tuition time. As outlined in the circular, significant flexibility is given to schools to make up tuition hours lost due to unforeseen circumstances. One option is to reduce the Easter holidays, but this is one of many choices available to schools".

Both the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) and the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) says that there are other options instead of taking days from Easter Holidays. If the holidays go ahead as usual then the time lost during Storm Emma will be made up during the year. To allow for this, certain measures are likely to be taken by schools nationwide. School tours may be cancelled and exam pupils may be required to attend school for the entirety of May.