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School Enrolments

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 January 2015

Tuesday, 27 January 2015

Questions (453)

Olivia Mitchell

Question:

453. Deputy Olivia Mitchell asked the Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to the fact that offers of places in the only new autism spectrum disorder classes in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area, County Dublin, are being restricted due to the school’s sibling and religious entry criteria; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3493/15]

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Written answers

It is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998. In schools where there are more applicants than places available a selection process may be necessary. In this regard a Board of Management may find it necessary to restrict enrolment to children from a particular area or a particular age group or on the basis of some other criterion. For example, some schools give priority to applicants who have siblings in the school. The criteria to be applied by schools in such circumstances are a matter for the schools themselves. This selection process and the enrolment policy on which it is based must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants. However, it may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in their school of first choice.

Existing equality legislation, which outlaws discrimination in relation to the admission of a student, makes provision for exemptions to apply in the case of single sex schools and in the case of schools where the objective is to provide education in an environment that promotes certain religious values. The Equality legislation provides that any school that has this objective may admit a student of a particular religious denomination in preference to other students. The legislation provides that such a school can refuse to admit a student who is not of that religion only where the school proves that this refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school.

As the Deputy may be aware, Government gave approval in March last year for drafting the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2014 and the bill is currently at an advanced stage of drafting. The objective of the Admissions to School Bill is to provide an over-arching framework to ensure that how schools decide on who is enrolled and who is refused a place in schools is more structured, fair and transparent.

A key objective in designing the framework is to create greater confidence for parents that the admission criteria laid down by schools are legitimate, reasonable and fair.

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