Wondering why schools are back so early this year… Emma O'Kelly of RTÉ has the answer

Emma O’Kelly, the RTÉ education correspondent has explained why secondary schools are back to early this year, and it’s not a reason you would think of.

In an RTÉ video clip she said: “A lot of secondary school students and their parents are wondering why on earth are schools opening so ridiculously early this year.

“Some schools are opening this coming Thursday and Friday, that’s the 21st and the 22nd of August, that’s practically mid-August.

“Now you might be tempted to blame the school but actually the fault lies with next year’s calendar, specifically the date of next year’s June bank holiday Monday.

“It falls on the earliest possible date, the 1st of June, that means next year’s leaving cert begins on the 3rd of June and that means that schools need to count back 166 weekdays excluding Christmas holidays, Easter holidays, bank holidays…

“Schools also have three discretionary days which they can use now or during the year so that’s it and that’s why this summer seems to be coming to such an untimely end.”

" id="link-0069420de312299892eb93a661dee151" target="_blank">See the video here.