Oireachtas call for new school admissions process welcomed
Márta 10, 2014
Parents’ groups have welcomed an Oireachtas committee’s recommendation for a new “independent and transparent appeals process” to oversee schools’ admissions policies.
Áine Lynch, chief executive of the National Parents Council – Primary, said planned legislation aimed at standardising such policies should lead to fewer appeals but “parents do need someone else to go to” when schools fail to adhere to their own admissions policies or national guidelines.
The draft Admissions to School Bill proposes to remove the current system, known as a section 29 appeal, wherbye parents can appeal decisions to the Department of Education.
School managers have expressed some concerns about creating a new appeals process, arguing it may lead to more bureaucracy and create false expectations for parents.
However, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection comes down in favour of an independent appeals mechanism, saying “this could possibly be provided for on a regional basis”.
It says: “Consideration should also be given, in the context of such a process, to provide for independent appeals in relation to the refusal of a school to offer a pupil a place in Transition Year.”
The National Parents Council – Secondary welcomed a separate recommendation for the department to provide resources “within a statutory timeframe” to any school designated to enrol a student with special educational needs.
“If Ruairí Quinn is going to have this new admissions policy he needs to put in place the systems to ensure special educational needs are met, ” the organisation’s spokeswoman, Lynda O’Shea said.
She said her local school in Waterford, St Paul’s, was the only school in the city with units to cater for the needs of children with autism but these were now full, with a waiting list of about eight children.
Alluding to discussions about the Catholic Church surrendering patronage, the committee said: “Multiple patronage and ethos as a basis for policy can lead to segregation and inequality in the education system. The objectives of admission policy should be equality and integration.”
Atheist Ireland welcomed this statement in particular, calling it as “a significant and strongly-worded conclusion”.
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