Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 December 2021
338. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Education if her Department measures the effect that the provisions of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 has in respect of the prioritisation of children graduating from Gaelscoileanna and seeking admission to a Gaelcholáiste; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [60389/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn 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.
Under the provisions of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018, all schools have admission policies, which are published on the schools website. 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 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, post primary schools can give a priority to a gaelscoil/ gaelscoilleanna as a selection criterion, and this is permitted under the act, 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.
There is an additional provision in the act that allows Irish medium schools, where it is their policy to do so, to include in their admission policy a priority for the admission of a student who has attained a reasonable age appropriate level of oral fluency in the Irish language and where that student’s fluency would be at risk of regressing if the student was not admitted to an Irish medium school. This provision recognises the difficulties that applicants may experience in accessing schools that provide an education though the medium of Irish.
