Sir, – In Northern Ireland, all secondary school pupils stay in school until the last Friday in June or June 30th. Exam students completing their GCSEs and A-levels will finish slightly earlier depending on their subject choice.
Primary school pupils in Northern Ireland finish for their summer holidays at the same time as pupils in the Republic, but they will have attended school for approximately an extra 180 hours for the school year.
The primary school day in Northern Ireland is generally an hour longer each day.
With various entities stating that conversations need to start regarding the “unification of this island”, the one between respective education departments and teachers unions is going to be a fun one to watch. – Yours, etc,
ORLA GILHOOLY,
Clontarf,
Dublin 3.