SCHOOLS in Ceredigion and Gwynedd will only be returning for three weeks, not four as originally planned.

Education Minister Kirsty Williams originally stated that schools would extend the summer term by a week, with the academic year finishing on 24 July, but teaching unions raised concerns over teacher contracts

Both Gwynedd and Ceredigion Council have confirmed this morning that they will now be opening their school for three weeks from next Monday.

In a statement to parents, Ceredigion Council said: “There has been overwhelming support by school staff in Ceredigion to welcome pupils gradually back to school from the 29 June onwards.

“However, schools in Ceredigion will not open for the period 20-24 July as originally stated by Kirsty Williams, Minister for Education. The week 20-24 July is now been called by Welsh Governement a ‘fourth voluntary week’.

“Ceredigion Council and all our schools are very disappointed that we are not in a position to open for the fourth week as originally stated.

“This is due to the fact that Welsh Government had not been able to secure an agreement with trade unions on the extension of the school term.

“Due to this, key staff in schools would be working at odds with their employment contract during the fourth voluntary week.

“Many staff are already not able to attend schools sites for valid medical reasons, and the additional week could lead to some schools being short of staff, and possibly unable to open at all.

“Ceredigion schools will therefore close to pupils on the date originally intended to be the end of the summer term, 17 July.’

Aberystwyth county councillor Ceredig Davies has expressed disappointment that Ceredigion schools will not be open for an additional week at the end of this summer term.

Cllr Davies has hit out at what he termed the ’intransigence’ of teaching unions and ’a lack of political will’ for a failure to reach agreement on the extra week.

Unions had questioned the safety and practicality of the proposal and warned that there might not be sufficient numbers of cleaners and teaching assistants to enable schools to open for an extra week.

And unions representing support staff said they could not be required to work as their contracts only covered standard term times.

“It is disappointing to hear that there was no consensus between interested parties in agreeing a way of providing our young people with an extra week of tuition at the end of the summer term,” Cllr Davies told the Cambrian News.

“It is disappointing that Ceredigion schools will not be open for an additional week at the end of this summer term.

“The efforts of the Education Minister Kirsty Williams to give our children the additional educational support that so many currently want and need, has been thwarted by the intransigence of national unions and lack of political will.

“These are unprecedented times calling for novel solutions but it’s evident that, for some, dogma is more important than the education of our children.”

However, the NEU and NASUWT said that the announcement would create ’great difficulties’ for teachers, risk lives and served little educational purpose.

A Gwynedd Council spokesperson said: “Gwynedd Council does not intend to ask teaching and other school staff to volunteer for this additional fourth week and therefore schools will close for the summer holidays on 17 July as they would have done originally.

“We believe that providing this clarity for parents, pupils and schools at this stage is a sensible approach and allows families time to prepare for the three-week period of the school term.

“We will be writing to parents and pupils directly in the coming days to update them regarding the ‘check in, catch up and prepare’ phase of reopening schools.”