asked the Minister for Education if he is satisfied that the entrance examination or test conducted by numbers of non-fee paying schools is not in breach of the free secondary education scheme under which grants are paid to these schools by his Department.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Secondary Education Scheme.
25.
The holding of an entrance examination by a secondary school does not contravene the terms of the free post-primary education scheme.
Schools may for their own reasons i.e., for assessment purposes decide to hold entrance examinations and I cannot interfere with their discretion in this matter.
Although I accept what the Minister says, would he not agree that this kind of test is being used increasingly by some large school which have opted into the non-fee paying system and is being used by them deliberately to exclude pupils who are eligible for secondary education?
Perhaps I should say, first, that a pupil cannot be guaranteed a place in a free secondary school of his choice. However, every eligible pupil is entitled to a place in a free post-primary school. To date, any pupil who has sought post-primary education under the scheme has not been denied it. The holding of examinations is confined mainly to Dublin, Cork and Limerick. A change has been made in relation to this examination, particularly in regard to the Christian Brothers' schools where they hold all the examinations on the same day, so that there could be no question of pupils trying to get into more than one particular school.
Would the Minister not agree that this defeats the purpose of the abolition of the primary certificate examination?
I do not think so. As I stated in my reply, it could be for assessment purposes and I cannot interfere with that.