Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 November 2016
89. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to publish draft regulations to accompany the proposed Education Schools Admissions Bill 2016 prior to the Bill going to Committee Stage; the date on which he proposes to publish same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36627/16]
View answerThe Education (Admission to Schools) Bill was published on 6th July 2016 and passed second stage last week.
The Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016 is a priority listing on the current legislative programme. The Programme for Government targets enactment of the Bill before September 2017.
Publication of the Bill reflects the commitment in the Programme for Government to publish new School Admissions legislation taking account of current draft proposals and addressing issues including publication of school enrolment policies, an end to waiting lists, introduction of annual enrolment structures, and transparency and fairness in admissions for pupils and their parents.
The Bill provides 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. The following is an outline of some of its key provisions:
- The Bill will oblige all schools to admit pupils where there are available places. It is important to note that 80% of schools are not oversubscribed.
- 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 includes a specific requirement that school enrolment policies must include details of the school's arrangements for any students who do not wish to attend religious instruction.
- The Bill contains a provision prohibiting the charging of fees or seeking payment or contributions for an application for admission to a school or for the enrolment or continued enrolment of a student in a school.
- The Bill also provides for the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) to designate a school for a child with no school place and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to designate a school for a child who has no school place for reasons related to the child’s special educational needs
The Bill clarifies the power of the Minister to make regulations and sets out clearly matters relating to enrolment that regulations may address.
A draft set of regulations were published with the General Scheme of the Bill in September 2013 and these regulations will be updated and published in draft form for further consultation with the relevant education stakeholders following enactment of the Bill.
