In relation to school admissions, 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.
Schools are not permitted to discriminate against an applicant for admission on any of the grounds set out in the Equal Status Act, 2000. However, the Equal Status Act 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. Schools that comply with the requirements of the equality legislation do not therefore discriminate on religious grounds.
The Education (Admission to Schools) Bill, which was published in April of this year, 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 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 provides for 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.
