Schools that close due to icy weather or other unforeseen circumstances may not make up for lost time with remote teaching and learning, under official guidance.
Instead, schools will be required to compensate for tuition time by cutting non-tuition activities such as school tours or, for longer closures, shorten their midterm or Easter holidays by up to three days.
The measures are set out in a recent circular to schools from the Department of Education.
The Government’s National Emergency Co-ordination Group met on Sunday and agreed schools should remain open this week despite freezing temperatures and frosty conditions.
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However, speaking on RTÉ Radio on Sunday, Keith Leonard of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management and a member of the co-ordination group, said the final decision rested with school management, and schools were allowed to close if it was necessary to do so due to local conditions.
The circular recently sent to schools has sparked frustration among some school leaders who say that investment in technology and valuable experience of remote teaching during Covid appears to “count for nothing”.
The circular also appears to conflict with a reform measure announced last year by the Department of Education as part of an action plan linked to the current pay deal with trade unions.
The document states that unions will “work with [the] department to support the use of technology to the greatest extent possible to maintain teaching and supports to children in unexpected closures (weather etc) on a remote basis”.
The measure was seen by many observers at the time as an end to “snow days”.
When asked what guidance schools should follow, a Department of Education spokesman said contingency arrangements set out in the circular – that emphasise making up for school time in person – represented the “official position”.
He said the guidance in this circular was agreed with education partners.
The spokesman said the reform outlined in the pay deal action plan – that emphasises remote teaching – was about “exploring possible actions or reforms”.
Freezing weather conditions led to the closure of a small number of schools on Friday in the Dublin area. Ireland will remain wintry and “raw” over the coming days, raising the potential for further closures.
Despite the circular’s guidance, one of the schools that closed on Friday, Alexandra College in Milltown, Co Dublin, said it decided to prioritise remote teaching for its exam year students and uploaded homework and revision online for other students.
Principal Barbara Ennis said the school was keen to ensure continuity of learning for its students. The question of making up for additional time had not arisen, she said, as the school had a spare day in its academic calendar.
Another principal of a school that closed on Friday said that its teachers were operating remote teaching, where possible, on Microsoft Teams. He also emphasised that it made sense to offer online teaching where possible.
There have been record levels of investment in technology in schools, spurred in part by their experience of the education system during the Covid pandemic.
Schools this year received the first payment to support the implementation of a digital strategy, that totalled €50 million across schools.
