Hundreds of thousands of students around the country are returning to school on a staggered basis this week, with experts predicting that the summer lull in traffic in some areas will be officially over by Monday.
Despite the existence of a standardised school year, schools are permitted to use their own discretion when deciding the exact date to reopen after the summer holidays. According to the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, many of the State's 3,200 primary schools will reopen this week, with some opening as early as today.
It expects all schools in the sector - catering to almost half-a-million students - to be open by Monday.
The majority of some 750 second level schools have also been open since Monday but most are doing so on a phased basis. This has seen first year students attending schools from that day, followed by classes up to Junior Certificate level. A spokeswoman for the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland said it expects the "vast majority" to have all their students in attendance by tomorrow and Friday.
The standardised school year does not dictate the start or finish of the school year, but rather relates to holiday periods once the new school year has recommenced. At primary level, schools are required to remain open for a total of 183 days, while at second level schools are required to work a total of 167 days.
According to Ronan Gilligan of AA Roadwatch, motorists who may have appreciated the summer lull in traffic in major cities should enjoy it while it lasts.
As not all primary schools would be back to school this week, he said traffic around the country was "pretty standard summer fare" yesterday. But he expected this to pick up as the school holidays come to an end. "It has been standard summer traffic in the morning, meaning it is lighter than usual," he said. "But by Monday it should be full steam ahead again."
According to the Department of Education website, the standardised school year will see all schools closing from October 29th to November 2nd inclusive this year. They will then close for the Christmas holidays on December 21st before reopening on January 7th, 2008.