Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 October 2015
589. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills for an update regarding advances towards secular education; access for unbaptised children to national schools; and the repeal of Section 7(3)(c) of the Equal Status Act 2000. [36319/15]
View answerThe Programme for Government gives a commitment to move towards a more pluralist system of patronage for our schools. In this context, a Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector was established to look at how schools could cater for diversity and ensure an inclusive environment for all their pupils. Work is continuing on implementing the Action Plan arising from this Forum, including advancing the patronage divesting process.
Under this process, which creates greater choice for parents in areas where there is not a demographic need for new school provision, eight new multi-denominational primary schools have opened and work is continuing to advance choices in the other identified areas. I intend to reinvigorate the process to speed up divestment and to that end, I will be arranging to meet with the Catholic Bishops and with the other patrons in the coming period.
In addition to divesting, in those areas where there is a demographic need for new schools, the arrangements introduced in 2011 place a strong emphasis on parental choice. Under this process, 20 new primary schools and 17 new post-primary schools have opened. 35 of these 37 schools have a multi-denominational ethos.
With regard to admission to schools, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998. The enrolment policy must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants.
My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area.
Parents can choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available the pupil should be admitted. However, in schools where there are more applicants than places available a selection process may be necessary. 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, this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice.
Under the Equal Status Act, 2000 schools are not permitted to discriminate against an applicant for admission on any of the grounds set out in the Act. However, the Act 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 legislation provides that an educational establishment does not discriminate where the establishment is a school providing primary or post-primary education to students and the objective of the school is to provide education in an environment which promotes certain religious values, it admits persons of a particular religious denomination in preference to others or it refuses to admit as a student a person who is not of that denomination and, in the case of a refusal, it is proved that the refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school.
The Education (Admission to Schools) Bill, which was published in April of this year and is on the Government's legislative programme for enactment in this session, introduces a number of important changes to make enrolment policies fairer and more transparent.
The Bill does not propose changes to the existing equality legislation. However, the Bill provides for schools to explicitly state in the school's admission policy that it will not discriminate against an applicant for admission on the grounds of disability, special educational needs, sexual orientation, family status, membership of the traveller community, race, civil status, gender or religion while including provision for single sex schools and denominational schools to reflect, in their admission policy, the exemptions applicable to such schools under equality legislation.
The Bill also requires schools to publish an enrolment policy which will include details of the school's arrangements for students who do not want to attend religious instruction.
Furthermore, the patronage determination process for new schools requires prospective patrons to commit to enrolling pupils from the area to be served by the new school.
