Sir, – The warnings of a segregated education system are both concerning and timely in light of the expected publication of a new School Admissions Bill ("Immigrant children concentrated in less than a quarter of schools", February 24th).
At the Immigrant Council of Ireland we firmly believe in equality of access to our schools and believe integration should be promoted in the classroom, playground and on our school sports fields.
We have undertaken a number of projects in co-operation with educators. These include the production of a template for schools to introduce polices to prevent racism, a special online course (thinkandact.ie) to assist teachers in explaining immigration issues and the appointment of young successful migrants as “ambassadors for change” to act as mentors.
Despite this work it would be foolish in the extreme to ignore the trends identified by your reporter Pamela Duncan. Segregation, even by accident, in our education system would set our country on a course for problems that would last a generation.
We would encourage Minister for Education Jan O’Sullivan not only to advance the promised School Admissions Bill but to put in place a structure to monitor its impact and future school admission trends.
We believe that such monitoring could take place in the context of a national integration strategy that would cover all sectors and not just education.
If Ireland is to become a society where everyone is treated equally then there is no better place to start than in our classrooms. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN KILLORAN,
Incoming Chief Executive,
Immigrant Council
of Ireland,
Andrew Street,
Dublin 2.