Overwhelmed parents are calling for Irish school times to be standardised around the regular working day.

Ireland is one of many countries that has no official start time for schools – and parents say introducing one would be basic common sense.

On Lunchtime Live, working mother Emma Jane said her child will be starting school in Wexford in September – but she is not allowed to drop them off until 9.20am.

“It is a bit of a disaster for normal working hours from nine to five,” she said. “And we’re in quite a rural area so we can’t walk, there’s no bus, she has to be driven.”

School start times

She said she doesn’t see school as “childcare” - but parents need a school schedule they can work with. 

“The majority of people work nine to five,” she said. “So, for a school to start at 9.20am, realistically I wouldn’t be home until 9.45am. 

“I, luckily, work remotely [but] if I was in a previous role, I would have had to commute in Dublin. 

“If [school] was starting at that time, it would have taken an hour to get into town. 

“I just don't understand how it's feasible for so many [parents].” 

School children during class at a primary school, 27/11/19. Image: PA Images / Alamy

Emma Jane said children can attend a breakfast club, run by a separate entity from the school – but when she applied for her daughter six months ago, she was told the club was already full.

She is calling for all schools in Ireland to have a standardised start time that matches the hours most people work.

“It’s common sense,” she said. 

“It should be the Department [of Education] that just says [a time] ... I think it should be 9am.” 

'Ships in the night'

Mums in Business spokesperson Ashling Owens Nash said she left her previous job to start her own business – largely because she needed to look after her three children.

She said having schools start at the same time in line with the working world “would help an awful lot of people working”. 

“The current school my children go to starts at 9.05am,” she said. “Before we moved house, they started at 8.35am. 

“If we hadn't had that 8.35am start time when I lived and worked in Dublin... we would have been in an awful predicament.” 

She said she and her husband are “passing ships in the night” taking opposite days off work to look after their children. 

A school bus. Photo: Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland

Secondary School Principal Craig Petrie said he can’t speak for all schools – but often a start time is out of their hands. 

“Sometimes there are conditions that are laid out in planning, sometimes there are conditions that are laid out by the Department that say schools in a cluster in an area should not start at the same time,” he said. 

He said schools near each other might have to start at different times to avoid traffic jams as parents drop their children off. 

School buses also might require different start times if one service drives students from different schools.