School’s in, School’s out – says who?

Have you ever wondered who is in charge of deciding school hours? Or who decides when a school should be open or closed? With schools closing and re-opening during COVID-19, this has been an interesting and important topic of discussion.

This Issues Brief explains that decisions about the opening and closing of schools and the school calendar are, for non-government schools, largely left in local hands. This arrangement is the result of over a century of productive dialogue between the government and the non-government school sector.