The annual list of the main feeder schools, published as a supplement with this newspaper yesterday, underlines the strong performance of the "free" State-run second-level education sector, despite the fanfare about grind schools and fee-paying schools.
On a county-by-county basis, the local secondary school is invariably the top performer when it comes to progression of students to third-level. There are other striking features to the list: only one grind school is ranked among the top 50 feeder schools in the State while fee-paying schools only do best in Dublin where their very presence tends to depress the performance of the local "free" school.
The Feeder Schools 2007 supplement also included a list of those schools providing special needs education in Dublin. It is largely concentrated in non-fee-paying schools and in poorer areas. With some honourable exceptions, many fee-paying schools, virtually all of which are run by religious orders, continue to turn a blind eye to their responsibilities in this regard.
The strong public response to yesterday's publication underlines how The Irish Times list has become an accepted part of the education landscape. Admittedly, the conclusions that can be drawn from information of this kind are imperfect because the assessment criteria relate solely to the academic achievement of pupils. But such lists have helped to fill the information vacuum in Irish education. They remain a valuable guide for parents who simply want their children to fulfil their academic potential. It was the publication of these tables - and their huge popularity - that first prompted the Department of Education to lift the traditional veil of secrecy and to publish school inspection reports.
The feeder school list has also helped to raise important issues of public interest, not least about the admission policies of many schools. Minister for Education Mary Hanafin has expressed her dismay at the exclusionist policies of some when it comes to special needs and, indeed, immigrant children and the children of immigrants. She has commissioned a national audit of enrolment policies. The hope must be that the results of this research will be published. It would be good to see the miscreants identified and robust action taken to force them to broaden admissions.
But there are few grounds for optimism. Ms Hanafin may be a strong advocate of local "free" State-run schools but her department continues to subsidise the fee-paying sector with more than €80 million of taxpayers' money every year. As the Teachers' Union of Ireland has advised, the Minister must make it clear that she is prepared to withdraw State support unless all students are welcomed, irrespective of either their social class or their academic standard.
It would be good too to hear how the religious orders that run these fee-paying schools stand over such discrimination. Are they too auditing their enrolment and admissions policies?