Ms Hilary Harmon:

I thank the joint committee for the opportunity to present to it on the matter of school enrolment and, in particular, to discuss the admissions to school Bill. Many members will be aware that Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre has been working since 1985 to challenge racism and promote Traveller and Roma inclusion in Ireland. Core to Pavee Point's work is a commitment to promoting and supporting Traveller inclusion in the education system.

As we have already made a detailed submission to the committee, I propose to only outline our main concerns. Enrolment policies have long proved to be a significant obstacle for Travellers in accessing and progressing through the education system. They have often served to perpetuate a pattern of institutional discrimination towards Travellers within the education system. Pavee Point welcomes the opportunity the Bill presents to break this pattern of discrimination and ensure all children can fully enjoy their right to education.

While there has been a significant improvement in the past few years in the educational outcomes for Travellers, unfortunately, they continue to fair badly in comparison to their settled peers. Some 55% of Travellers will leave school before the age of 15 years. The educational attainment of Travellers is significantly lower than that of their settled peers. As per the state of the nation's children report in 2012, Traveller and immigrant children and children with special educational needs were more likely to be bullied in school. The withdrawal of a considerable number of Traveller specific education supports in the 2011 budget has had a significant impact on Traveller enrolment, transfer and retention in the education system.

The first of our recommendations speaks to the aims of the Bill to make the process more parent friendly and consistent. To this end, we are recommending that all school admissions policies and application forms be written in plain English and standardised across the system to ensure they are as accessible as possible to all parents. We also recommend that the timeframe for the admissions process be standardised across schools to ensure all parents and students are aware of the deadline for applications and when they will be notified of decisions. These are simple recommendations which if taken on board, could have a profound impact. It is worth bearing in mind that one in six adults in Ireland today has a literacy difficulty. We also propose that primary school principals be responsible for ascertaining that 6th class students have a place in a post-primary school and notifying the NEWB of students who do not have a place or are in danger of not transferring to a post-primary school. Currently, no individual or institution is responsible for ensuring a student transfers from primary to post-primary education. For children at risk of early school-leaving, this is a particularly vulnerable juncture.

Pavee Point has serious concerns about heads 5 and 7. While we acknowledge that section 29 can be cumbersome and time-consuming, if withdrawn, there will be no way the education and welfare officer can ascertain whether a school is full. The unfortunate reality is that many schools have in the past used the excuse of being full to prevent Traveller students from enrolling. It is unclear how, as recommended under head 9, the National Educational and Welfare Board would be able to designate a school for a student if it could not establish whether the school was full. To ensure boards are effectively and fairly implementing their admissions policy, decisions made on admissions should be, as part of the whole school evaluation process, examined by the inspectorate. This would ensure transparency and accountability on the part of a board and serve to instil confidence in the process for parents. Given the close working relationship between most boards and principals, a serious question arises about the impartiality of boards in deciding on an appeal and their expertise to do so. It is imperative that an independent appeals process, outside the school in question, be put in place in order that children and parents can have confidence in the system.

The past pupil criterion is, by its very nature, discriminatory and has a disproportionate impact on communities with high levels of educational disadvantage. It is these communities that we should be targeting and facilitating to participate in the education system. They should not face further discrimination in the enrolment process. The all-Ireland Traveller health study, undertaken by Pavee Point in 2010, found that 38.5% of 30 to 44 year olds and 25.8% of 45 to 64 year olds within the Traveller community had only primary level education. This means that for a large number of Traveller children, the chances of their parents having attended a post-primary school are remote. The past pupil selection criterion is also discriminatory of Travellers who are nomadic. We strongly recommend that schools be prevented from implementing this criterion in their selection process.

I thank the committee for its time. We will be happy to respond to questions from members.