Mr. Paul Crone:

I thank the committee for the invitation to present at this meeting. The NAPD is the professional association for post-primary school leaders and provides a united voice for principals and deputy principals on issues of common concern across all three post-primary sectors. I am here to speak about the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2020.

Education in Ireland is seen as an enabler, a means of personal development and a way towards self-improvement and personal fulfilment. Our education system prides itself on promoting equality and inclusiveness and embracing diversity. The local school for the local child builds a sense of belonging and ownership in the community in which the child lives. The development of this stewardship builds the communities in which we live.

The vision for Irish education, as outlined in the Department of Education's 2021 statement of strategy, strives to give every student the same opportunity to achieve his or her full potential. This means that every student must be given equality of opportunity. It is understandable that a school may wish to prioritise the children or grandchildren of past pupils, given that they have previous connections with the school, have contributed to the development of the characteristic spirit of the school and share common values. However, the operation of this criterion with the potential to reserve 25% of places can have the consequence of excluding newcomers to the area, international children, members of the Traveller community and parents who may not have completed their own education yet value education for their children.

School boards of management are charged with deciding on the admission criteria for schools and many choose such criteria as having siblings who have already attended the schools, living in defined catchment areas or attending specific feeder schools. It is likely that parents or grandparents who attended a school may still live in the local area, the applicant may have a sibling already in the school or an applicant may attend the local primary school.

In preparation for this hearing today, I sought and identified one post-primary school that operates the parent or grandparent criterion to use as an example. I asked how many current first-year students relied on this criterion to gain access to the school. The answer was none. While many students had parents or grandparents who attended the school, all of the current first-year cohort qualified to be awarded a place under the other criteria operated by the school ahead of the parent or grandparent criterion. This raised the question of the relevance of this criterion for this school. This situation may well be replicated elsewhere throughout the country.

While I accept that this is a complex issue for some schools, the strength of our belief in the purpose or vision of Irish education to promote equality and inclusiveness will determine the decision required to adopt or reject the proposed Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2020. I thank the committee for its time. I will be here to answer questions afterwards.