§ Mr. Kirkwoodasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will consider issuing guidelines to local authorities to seek to rationalise the Easter holidays in schools to ensure that they encompass both Good Friday and Easter Monday.
§ Mr. Allan StewartThe fixing of term dates is a matter for education authorities themselves and I do not propose54W to issue guidance on this matter. In most years the arrangements made encompass Good Friday and Easter Monday within the holiday period, exceptions arising mainly when Easter Monday falls in the third week of April, as in 1984; on these occasions authorities may be reluctant to delay the start of the summer term given the proximity of the national examinations which this year commence on 25 April.