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THE MINISTER FOR EDUCATION, Ruairí Quinn, has said that he wants to make the enrolment process for schools “more structured, fair and transparent.”
Quinn made the announcement during his address to the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) at their annual conference in Wexford yesterday.
Referring to the Education Act of 1998, the minister said that it’s aim had been to provide the “maximum accessibility” to schools, which he said worked in most schools in Ireland, “most of the time”.
This same legislation was a “light touch”, however, in the way in which it did not offer any tailored measures to deal with the different admission issues that could arise.
Outlining the difference between a school becoming oversubscribed and a “situation where an individual child can find no place at all”, Quinn said that he planned to draft the Education (Admission to School) Bill 2013 to address this.
Making clear that he didn’t “want to unnecessarily intrude into how schools do business,” Quinn said that a full public discussion would follow the publishing of the bill, which would include the input of the Oireachtas committee on education and education partners.
Regulations to accompany the bill would also be published.
“The draft legislation will make it clear that some methods of controlling admissions will no longer be permitted,” he said.
Saying that the first-come, first-served system that currently exists in many schools “might look reasonable to some”, the minister said that this could impact on children who move to an area.
“That situation cannot be allowed,” he said, adding that the draft legislation would radically alter how waiting lists operated.
‘Preferential treatment’
The charging of parents to simply allow them to apply for a place at a school on behalf of their child will also be curtailed, as will what the minister described as “preferential treatment”.
We have seen an over-use of preferential treatment for the children of past pupils, or more insidiously, the requirement for children and their parents to attend compulsory open days or be interviewed. These practices will be curtailed. Any school that is faithful to the Education Act in relation to providing maximum access will have nothing to fear from my proposals.
The education minister is due to address the Teachers’ Union of Ireland at their conference in Galway later today.
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That has to be the longest article I didn’t read.
@Jason Ebbs: exactly what they want. The headline will stick in your mind though.
Seaspiracy on Netflix.
Stunned…..
https://g.co/kgs/Us1NVr
@Mark O’Donohoe: just watched this – no more fish for me!
@Patricia: pretty sad but to be honest if you watch any documentary on industrial farmed produce from any source (meet, poultry, fish) you would be left wondering what you would feel comfortable eating.
@John Egan: vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds and very happy and healthy doing so
@Aedín: im sure it is, would 6 billion people be able to do the same
@Mark O’Donohoe: I haven’t eaten a morsel of meat or fish since I watched that, followed by conspiracy. I’m done.
Can we not have the small Irish boat as a symbol on fish products, like the guaranteed Irish symbol.
Give people the choice to pay a bit more for a more sustainable fishing method.
Ultimately, only a boycott on fish will force the fishing industry and government to implement changes.
@Ian Downes: that’s an ideal solution. Sadly the industry is anything but ideal. Cant see it happening unless the whole industry as it is collapses.
The fishing industry is always left behind. Lost most of the rights coming into Europe because we didn’t know/ want what we had.
Now, an advanced society realise what we let go.
Totally overfishing by everyone. The negotiations come up every December and the only sector that looses out every year are the fish
Great article
I see this rag isn’t happy the EU have started to plunder our waters.
@HonestGrump: The plundering of our waters began a long time ago
Last year decided to go “meet free Mondays” where I’d have veg only… apparently a kilo of meat uses like a thousand litres of water. Then moved to “fish free Fridays” as I knew about over fishing. Will I have a world changing impact? Probably not..but if I can help a lil bit, without drastically changing my life? I’ll give it go!
(This is coming from a prepper btw)
@The Kev in Kevlar: you need to learn how to spell before you can comment. The standard of English and commentators is very poor on this website. Including reporters. Just take moment reread and then publish
@The Kev in Kevlar: as they say.. lots of people doing they’re best imperfectly rather than a few doing things perfectly
@Aedín: **** their best
@Keith Rankin: hahaha you come at me for spelling rather that my point? Eat you troll food and go back under your bridge…try harder next time darling
@Aedín: underrated comment, full credit
Dont eat fish tis full of plastic.
Also, after Fukushima went (literally) nuclear, the sheer amount of chemicals is the Pacific,now leaching into the Atlantic has jumped a lot…
Seaspiracy on Netflix well worth a look. I won’t be eating fish anymore. The impact fishing is having on stocks, other animals and even the climate is substantial. Very long article but very good!
have your say