Students at second-level schools in Ireland break up earlier for the summer holidays than many of their peers in other nations*. 

The Irish Independent reports that while school pupils in the country finish the academic year at the end of May, those in England do not end the term until late July and students in the German state of Bavaria have to wait until the beginning of August.

Indeed, at a total of 19 weeks, Irish second-level pupils have the second-longest holidays among all Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

Speaking in response to a recent suggestion from Fine Gael TD Brendan Griffin that the summer holidays in Ireland should be extended to help tourism in the country, spokeswoman for the National Parents' Council Jackie O'Callaghan claimed the break is already long enough.

She stated: "You could push the start of the school holidays to later in June but if you did that, the tourist industry would lose out on business at that time."

*School holidays

Greece 21 weeks, Ireland 19 weeks, US 16 weeks, England 14 weeks, Germany 12 weeks, Australia 12 weeks, Denmark 10 weeks, OECD Average 14 weeks

Figures for second-level schools. Source: OECD

Written by Donal Walsh

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