Ms Derval Duggan:

As a citizen, a parent and a teacher I welcome the opportunity to participate in this discussion.

The declared intent of the Bill is to ensure greater equity, to reinforce the principle of maximum accessibility and inclusiveness and to require that schools will not discriminate in admission. Several areas require amendment if the Bill is to achieve its stated goals. Head 3 refers to schools to which the provisions of section 7(3)(c) of the Equal Status Act apply which states: "[such a school] does not discriminate where it admits a person of one religious denomination in preference to others or where it refuses to admit a person who is not of that denomination, where it is proved that refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school".
Underhead 9 the school can refuse to admit the child even if the National Educational Welfare Board or the National Council for Special Education has designated the school for a child who has no place. There is no definition of the proof required but in the regulatory impact analysis a religious body expressed concern that such a designation might mean having to accept a person who does not actively support the religious ethos of the school. The Bill does not explain what happens if every school in an area refuses a child on these grounds but the regulatory impact assessment refers to the cost of providing home tuition for such students. Under these provisions religious discrimination will continue in 3,500 of our 4,000 schools. I am concerned also that parents have no right of appeal against the designation of a school which will undermine their ethos.
Under head 4 there is a requirement on a board of management to consult with parents before approving the admission policy. This requirement should be strengthened as currently it is too easy for school management to ignore parents’ views in the development of policy. Head 4 requires the admission policy to set out the position of the school in regard to its arrangements for upholding the constitutional rights of any students who do not wish to attend religious instruction. If religion class is scheduled during the school day extra teaching resources may be required for the students who do not wish to attend. For primary school students there is no practical way to uphold their rights under the current integrated curriculum. Schools must not be allowed to tell parents to remove their child from school, as some do at present.
Heads 5, 6 and 7 propose the repeal of section 29 of the Education Act which deals with the refusal to enrol a child. A child refused a school place by the principal of a school must now appeal to the board of management, whose decision is final. Given that the principal, board of management and patron develop and approve the admission policy, an appeal to the board cannot be viewed as independent. An independent appeals process would provide reassurance to parents and better feedback to the Minister.
If the Oireachtas passes the Bill in its present form it will simply add another layer of hypocrisy to the rules, laws and international commitments governing our education system. The Equal Status Act confers unequal status; the Employment Equality Act confers inequality; the Constitution states the State will not endow any religion but taxpayers pay primary teachers to spend 10% of their day teaching religion; the Teaching Council code of professional conduct states that teachers must, "uphold human dignity and promote equality", but there is no dignity for children in hearing theirteacher disrespect their family’s beliefs; thousands of school mission statements welcome diversity but some children are made to feel very different or are turned away; the Minister says that anti-bullying policies must emphasise the dangers of homophobic bullying while the patron of most of our schools teaches that homosexuality is "an objective disorder"; the Constitution recognises the inalienable rights of parents in the matter of their children’s education but religious organisations control both the schools and the curriculum at primary level.
In its consideration of the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2013, I ask the committee to be more ambitious for our children so that children in the 21st century are not paying the price for nineteenth-century segregation and sectarianism. Our public schools should not be Catholic, Protestant or Muslim. Education is about children, not churches. It is about children fulfilling their potential, going to school locally with their friends, making new friends, respecting and being respected by their teacher, feeling proud to belong to their class and their school community. Children should learn together in school, just as they will study, work and socialise together throughout their lives.
Members of the committee are legislators and they should act now. They should ban religious discrimination in all admission policies; establish an independent appeals procedure for refusal to enrol a child; amend or repeal section 37 of the Employment Equality Acts; repeal section 7(3)(c) of the Equal Status Act and section 2 of the Education Act; repeal rule 68 of the rules for national schools; implement a common moral and ethical education syllabus for all students. Members have the power to give all our children the education system they deserve.