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‘School admissions system is broken’

More could be done to make things easier for families trying to navigate the system

Letters to the Editor. Illustration: Paul Scott
The Irish Times - Letters to the Editor.
Sat Nov 23 2024 - 00:14

Sir, – Eric Leonard, in his article on school admissions, says that many parents are in for a rude awakening (“Our school admissions system is broken”, Education, November 18th). This may well be true, but for any non-religious family, family of a minority religion or those who have tried to access a multidenominational school, the second-level process is a case of plus ça change.

At this stage of the year, many children find themselves without a second-level place and a waiting game ensues until a place trickles down, often close to the end of the school year next spring. This is a familiar feeling to families of a minority or no religion who had the same experience at national school level.

Our child attends a multidenominational primary school, which is not close to where we live. We were lucky and grateful to get the place. The baptism barrier was in place at that time, meaning local schools could discriminate against our child. Thankfully the baptism barrier is now gone but there is a knock-on effect for second-level admissions. All secondary schools established since 2011 are required to operate catchment areas. Schools established before that time are not and operate myriad admissions policies and approaches. Some prioritise feeder schools, some the children of former students and some take a ruler to a map.

This has a disproportionate impact on multidenominational schools, such as Educate Together, as they were only granted patronage in 2011 and therefore must operate a catchment.

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As the four closest multi-denominational schools to us operate catchment areas, our child has not been offered a place in any. Our child is not alone. Children who sit side-by-side in primary school will not attend second-level school together, because they travelled outside of the local area in pursuit of a multidenominational education. In an ironic twist, the religious schools locally rely predominantly on a feeder-school approach. This means that children who were locked out at primary level are thus locked out again at second-level.

Accessing a school, any school, let alone one which is in your community or of your family’s ethos should not be this challenging. It is already an anxious time and an enormous transition, so much more could be done to make things easier for families trying to navigate these waters. – Yours, etc,

SORCHA NÍ LEANNAIN,

Shankill,

Co Dublin.