Bank Holidays are Too Centered around Teachers (and politicians)

Feck ye anyway. I was about to say that.

Why would the teachers explode? They'd be getting an extra day off.

Why? If there was a Public Holiday in September or October the teachers would get the day off too.

Jesus, Epic thread fail of the month.

So you're saying they would be happy?

I always find July a long month for not having a bank holiday, if we could have one then be great or maybe every leap year we get an extra bank holiday then and let's say in July that year if the government says they can't afford to have an extra one least then it's every 4 years and not every year, could be known as the leap year bank holiday. Least people get the benefit of it at least once every 4 years.

Not happy, per se, but we’d suffer on.

😂.

GPS works because there are server farms filled with teachers positioned strategically all over the globe

These teachers are in constant communication with all.the other teachers positioned across the globe in schools....

Everyone who isn't a teacher has a unique identification code visible only to teachers ...

The teachers out in the community constantly update the whereabouts of all the non teachers to the server farm teachers and they make this data available to the mobile network via cabling, radio waves what have you

That's why you'll never see a teacher use GPS themselves....they'll always ask you for position related data for the lols

Down there for dancing!

Are all public holidays not also bank holidays.

You are correct Good Friday is a bank holiday but not a public holiday. However st. Stephens day is a public holiday.

The pattern of public holidays in most countries is that they are concentrated in times of the year when people aren't likely to be taking annual leave anyway — i.e. there's not a lot in the summer. The whole idea is to give workers a break at a time when they wouldn't otherwise get one.

This isn't an inflexible rule, since there can be historical or cultural factors that influence decisions about which days will be public holidays — the US Declaration of Independence was signed on 4 July; what are you gonna do? — but it is a very signficant influence.

I worked somewhere with a very old fashioned contract and had 30 days and public holidays and Good Friday and the gap between Christmas and New Year. Private sector.

New contracts for staff hired after the first redundancies had the bare minimum 20.

I generally took most of December off as I'd find it hard to use 30 by then!

May be industry dependent, but 24 is the lowest I've had and in both cases, was raised to 25 while I worked there - company-wide, not personal - due to it being an issue when hiring staff. Everywhere else has been 25 or higher.

The 30+4 is still an outlier.

Is it any wonders our teachers are leaving in droves when even a non teacher related post gives them grief!

I think Ireland has less Public Holidays than most of our European Union counterparts.

And of course it does not make any difference as to when a Public Holiday falls,be you a teacher or in some other employment,you can avail of it either on the day it falls due or on another day of your choice should your category of employment not be able to avail of it on the day it falls.

On another (related) point with schools returning now on the 20th August regularly, it is quite a long run until 31st October without a break for students or indeed teachers alike. A look across the pond at how the UK system works,from a schools point of view,could teach a valuable lesson! UK schools take a Mid Term after about every 6-7 weeks,which gives a freshness to teacher and student alike……….and when a Public Holiday arrives,they take it,whereas the Irish system does not seem to be capable/able to take a Public Holiday unless its tied in with a Mid Term. The UK system makes more sense, Do the 6-7 weeks,take a Mid Term, and then take the Public Holiday when it arrives.Its not rocket science but 'change' seems to be difficult for the Dept,Of Education in in Ireland.( doing it this way would alleviate all the 'crap',poor discipline,lethargy, etc that manifests itself in our schools,after a 11 or 12 week continuous stint that occurs on the 1st term every year leading up to Hallowe'en……….but sure it would make too much sense to change it. After all do we really give a care about the students…..they will be emigrating soon enough,in any case! ( and do not mention the teachers,sure we hate them anyways!)

Hmmm I dont think I disagree with some of this but

I'd really question if it would improve discipline.....clear uniformly enforced consequences for continuous disruption might have more of an effect...not continually ignoring and not even entertaining a discussion on the issue and brushing under the carpet and leaving teachers and management to sink or swim with zero support in some instances..

Is discipline better in the UK system and if so is that because of the way they structure the time on/off is a question I'd ask....

Tbh it appears to me there's been a rush to ape what I think is a failed UK system over here (judging by the amount of uk related personnel hawking their wares over here) so I'd be loathe to transfer any more of their bullshit into our system...not that I'm making the decisions mind you

There is a reason large numbers of teachers only stay in teaching in the UK for short periods of time (with all the problems that creates for the students too etc)...a lot see it as a stepping stone over there ....that's if they don't decide to steer well clear of it in the first place.

Given that schools are supposed to have standardised years it's surprising the variation between schools if thats the case. My local primary school broke up on 22 June and returned 28 Aug, so a smidgeon over 8 weeks while the secondary school broke up last week of May and returned 27 Aug so a full 3 months.

No real issue, even though this results in Ireland having one of the longest summer breaks in Europe, so long as there is sufficient time to properly cover the curriculum. However, it was pretty obvious that the mock junior cert was held too early as my young lad wasn't able to answer some of the questions because they had yet to be covered in class. To my mind the mocks are aptly named and no wonder many student don't them seriously.

However the ridiculous number of free classes happening throughout the year may well have contributed to this problem. The worst excuse I heard for almost a week of maths free classes was that the junior cert maths teacher had to escort the TY students on one of their jollies. A quite extraordinary 2 fingers to a state exam year class. I wouldn't be so quick to ridicule other jurisdictions educatuon systems at this stage.

If you want to bridge the gap between August & October, there is always the option to take a days leave or uncertified sick day

Wouldn't we all be wealthier, healthier and happier without bank holidays? Think of the productivity gains.