Primary and secondary schools in Ireland will no longer close for events such as staff meetings.

As part of the Croke Park agreement, there will be major changes to the education system in Ireland.

One of these means that schools are unlikely to shut for staff meetings and teacher training courses, which will now be scheduled outside of class time. The Irish Independent reports that teachers will be required to work the equivalent of an extra hour every week which may be grouped into blocks of hours to facilitate the scheduling of meetings.

Last week, the Department of Education and Teachers Union agreed the Croke Park deal, which will also see more than 300 teachers who have no official position in schools to be transferred to within a 50-kilometre radius, starting in the next school year.

This comes after the publication reported that the Irish National Teachers' Organisation was told by one school that the government's ban on hiring more teachers has left it "descending into chaos", as many key middle-management positions have gone.

Written by Donal Walsh

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