Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 205: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will report on the policy in respect of the desirability of an integrated coeducational single management structure for schools in cases in which boys and girls schools had previously been built side by side, on the one site; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7395/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The position whereby some schools adjacent to each other operate on a single sex basis stems from a traditional approach to primary school education in this country. The vast majority of our schools are privately owned and managed and the question of ethos is, therefore, a matter for their trustees. However, schools wishing to change their status to become coeducational facilities or who wish to amalgamate to form a single coeducational facility should contact the school planning section of my Department for advice on how to make an application in this regard. All newly recognised national schools operate on a coeducational basis.