Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 December 2020
72. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to school admissions in circumstances in which children who could walk from their home to the local school are unable to secure places while children requiring transport can secure places, in particular when the funding for such schools was provided to address local population growth evidenced by population studies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40152/20]
View answerIn relation to school admissions, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998 and the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018. My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in that area.
Parents have the right to 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 will 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. Nonetheless, where a school is oversubscribed some pupils may not obtain a place in the school.
The Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 act requires schools to clearly set out their selection criteria in their admission policies. Schools have discretion in relation to their admission criteria and how they are applied, giving a priority to pupils that attended certain primary schools is permitted as a criterion under the act, and schools can apply this as a criterion should they wish to do so. The criteria to be applied by schools and the order of priority are a matter for the schools themselves.
New schools established since 2011 to meet demographic demand are required, in the first instance, to prioritise pupil applications from within the designated school planning area(s) which the school was established to serve. This does not preclude schools from enrolling pupils from outside of the school planning area where they have sufficient places, rather it reflects the need to accommodate in the first instance the demographic for which the school was established.
The requirement on new schools established since 2011 to prioritise enrolment from a particular school planning area(s) does not apply to the majority of existing schools established prior to 2011.
