If there are any further substantial reductions in the length of the school year pupils will no longer get a minimum level of education, secondary school managers have warned.
The Irish school year is already among the shortest in Europe at 167 days on average, and the managers said if it dipped much lower the basic level of secondary education would be compromised.
The Association of Management of Catholic Secondary Schools (AMCCS), which represents more than 60 per cent of schools, said the staging of oral/ practical exams and in-service training for teachers was taking a serious toll on the school year.
The group said the Department of Education often did not give schools sufficient advance notice of when in-service training was taking place. Consequently many schools found it difficult to inform parents and pupils in time.
The other problem with the increasing amount of time devoted to in-service training was the difficulty for schools in getting substitute teachers.
The AMCSS general secretary, Mr George O'Callaghan, said the organisation hoped the Department would consider holding in-service courses on Saturdays.
He said holding them at weekends would take the pressure off schools. Such a proposal is likely to be resisted by many teachers.
A Department of Education working group is currently looking at a new system for holding the Leaving Certificate oral/practical exams, and its preliminary proposals would mean reducing the average school year to 165 days.