Calls for schools to open on Saturdays to make up for lost days

Most families in the country were thrown out of routine last week with the cold weather and now there are calls to open schools at weekends to make up the time lost.

Sean Riordan, director of the Irish Parents' Council for Post Primary, has said schools could open on Saturdays. He believes this would be especially helpful for exam students. "Because of the time, that they’re caught between now and the exam date is set in stone – and I presume they’re not going to move that out, what I would say is there’s no reason why this couldn’t be made up on a Saturday or two," he told C103’s Cork Today Show. "I presume now that’ll upset some people but I’m sure if they could cut the holiday period if they had more advance notice of it, they probably would have done it around the Easter-time but this all came together. "If the student can have a routine for learning and stick to it, in some schools they open them up on a Saturday and a Sunday for a bit of study time. Which in other words, it gets them in a routine." This comes after suggestions that schools would make up days lost during the storm over the Easter break. Minister for Education Richard Bruton said schools could open for up to three days over the time off. "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".