Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 36:

In page 7, to delete lines 12 to 19 and substitute the following:“(c) provide that the school shall admit each student seeking admission to the school and each student seeking admission to a special class in the school, other than—

(i) where the school or special class concerned is oversubscribed, or

(ii) where the parent of a student, when required by the principal in accordance with section 23(4) of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, fails to confirm in writing that the code of behaviour of the school is acceptable to him or her and that he or she shall make all reasonable efforts to ensure compliance with such code by the student,”.

This amendment provides for the use of the term "oversubscription" as it is now defined in accordance with amendment No. 8. This amendment also includes a reference to the admission policy of a school, providing that it shall admit each student seeking admission to a special class in the school, other than in the case of the circumstances set out in section 62(6)(c). The amendment also reflects more accurately the language used in section 23(4) of the Education (Welfare) Act which provides that a parent is only required to confirm his or her acceptance of the code of behaviour when requested to do so by the principal of the school.

Amendment No. 44 provides that the admission policy section of the Bill contains a list of the prohibited oversubscription selection criteria and any exemption from same. The following are the prohibited oversubscription selection criteria: a student's prior attendance at a preschool, with exemptions for early intervention and early start preschools; the payment of fees or contributions; a student's academic ability, skills or aptitude, except for the admission of students to a special school or special class where it is necessary in order to ascertain whether the student has the category of special educational needs for which the special school or special class has been established to cater; the occupation, financial status, academic ability, skills or aptitude of a student's parents; and a requirement that a student, or his or her parents, attend an interview, open day or other meeting as a condition of admission, other than in the case of admission to the residential element of a boarding school or to a course known as a post-leaving certificate course. The Bill is silent on a limitation on the power of a school to determine a priority for children of past pupils where it is oversubscribed either by setting a percentage or otherwise. It was previously considered that this matter could be dealt with in regulations but, following legal advice, it is clear the matter needs to be dealt with in primary legislation.

The amendment provides that a school may not provide priority based on a student's connection to it by virtue of a member of his or her family attending or h0aving previously attended the school, except where a sibling of the student is attending or has attended the school, or where a parent or grandparent of the student concerned has previously attended the school, provided the maximum number of places filled pursuant to the latter criterion does not exceed 25% of the available places as set out in the school's annual admission notice for the school year concerned.

The amendment also provides that a school may not provide priority based on the date on which an application for admission was received by the school, subject to the application being received at any time during the period specified for receiving applications set out in the annual admission notice of the school for the school year concerned or, where appropriate, at any time during the period as otherwise determined by the school in accordance with the Bill or regulations made under it. An exemption from this provision is given where, prior to the coming into operation of the subsection, the school had confirmed in writing to the person who had made an application or expression of interest that the name of the child in respect of whom the application or expression of interest had been made had been placed on a list maintained by the school for the purpose of allocating school places in the year concerned. This exemption ceases to apply five years after commencement of the subsection.

The amendment also provides that a school shall compile a waiting list of students whose applications for the intake group were unsuccessful following application of the oversubscription selection criteria and this list shall remain valid for the intake year. Students will be placed on the list in accordance with the order of priority assigned to their applications after the school has applied its selection criteria and it must offer further school places that become available for and during the school year to those students on the waiting list, in accordance with the order of priority in which they had been placed on the list.

The amendment also seeks to address somewhat the concerns raised by a number of the education partners about the practice of parents applying to multiple schools. It provides that, in accepting an offer of admission, an applicant shall indicate if he or she has accepted an offer of admission from another school or schools or if the applicant is awaiting the outcome of the admission process in another school or schools. If so, he or she shall provide details of the offer or offers or the school or schools concerned. An offer of admission may not be made or may be withdrawn where the applicant does not comply with this provision.

The amendment amends the existing wording in the Bill which provides that an admission policy shall provide details of the school's policy on its arrangements for students who do not wish to attend religious instruction. This provision has been amended to provide that an admission policy shall provide details of the school's arrangements for any student where the parent of that student or, in the case of a student who has reached the age of 18 years, the student himself or herself has requested that he or she attend the school without attending religious instruction.

Amendment No. 59 is a consequential amendment required to change the reference to the subparagraphs in section 62 which now run from (a) to (q).