Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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Question 118: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the plans he has to issue guidance to schools regarding their enrolment policies; his views on children being enrolled in schools outside their local catchment areas; if his attention has been drawn to the schools that have consequently refused enrolment to local applicants on the basis of the school having reached its enrolment capacity, albeit with some children from outside the catchment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25064/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Enrolment in individual schools is the responsibility of the managerial authority of those schools and my Department does not seek to intervene in decisions made by schools in such matters. My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking places. This may result, however, in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice.

It is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of schools that are not in a position to admit all pupils seeking entry to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act. In this regard a board of management may find it necessary to restrict enrolment to children from a particular area or a particular age group or, occasionally, on the basis of some other criterion. In formulating an admissions policy a school must, however, ensure it is lawful. In particular, it must act in accordance with section 7 of the Equal Status Act 2000. Where a Board of Management refuses to enrol a student in a school, the parent of the student or, where the student has reached 18 years of age, the student himself or herself, following the conclusion of any appeal procedures at school level, has a statutory entitlement under section 29 of the Education Act to appeal that decision to the Secretary General of the Department of Education and Science. A committee is established to hear the appeal with hearings conducted with a minimum of formality. In most cases appeals must be dealt with within 30 days. Where appropriate, the Secretary General may give whatever directions to the Board of Management that are considered necessary to remedy the matter complained of.

The Deputy may be aware that during 2007 the Department undertook an audit of school enrolment policies and compiled data on the number of Travellers, newcomers and children with special needs in individual schools. The results of the audit do not point to a nationwide problem. However, they highlight significant differences between schools in some geographical areas. Local factors can have an influence and an element of self-selection can also come into play, as may happen when a newcomer community opts for a particular school. Nonetheless, certain subtle practices by individual schools can have the effect of discouraging particular groups — such as children with special needs — from applying for places. We have to ensure that all schools are open to students of all backgrounds.

As a starting point there is a need to empower parents with a greater understanding of their rights in relation to the issue of school enrolment. My Department is currently involved in a consultation with the education partners on this and a range of related issues including:

The effectiveness of the current system of appealing against non-enrolment;

The consequences that practices such as retaining pre-enrolment waiting lists of several years or favouring children of past-pupils can have for newcomer families;

The potential for improved cooperation between schools in a given area with a view to meeting the full needs of their local community; and

How identified problems can best be addressed. The views of the education partners will form an important input to the development of policy responses to the findings of the enrolment audit.

The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) is the statutory agency which can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child. The NEWB can be contacted at National Educational Welfare Board, National Headquarters, 16-22 Green Street, Dublin 7 or by telephone at 01-8738700. The Deputy may be aware that my Department recently published a report of a major audit of school enrolment practice. The purpose of the audit, conducted by my Department's Regional Office Service, was to examine the disparities that exist in schools in particular locations in relation to the numbers of pupils enrolled who are newcomers, have special educational needs or are from the Traveller community. Over half the primary and second level schools in the country were surveyed under the audit.

I should emphasise that the statistical information presented requires cautious interpretation, particularly in the context of local factors that could be identified in many instances at primary level (e.g. a concentration of newcomer or traveller children living in a particular area impacting on enrolment in the nearest school). When interpreted in that context, the statistical information returned does not point to enrolment problems on a system wide scale. It does, however, identify a number of school clusters where the evidence points to some schools assuming more responsibility for enrolling children of all backgrounds and needs within their local community, than others.

In order to ensure that no schools are directly identified and to ensure that "league tables" for particular areas could not be formed, the published information excludes the names and addresses of schools, but groups them within geographical clusters for comparison purposes. My predecessor has written to the main partners in education setting out some areas for consideration in order to facilitate an informed consultation with the education partners about possible policy measures available to ensure that all schools are welcoming and inclusive to all children of all needs in their own local community.

Finally, the Deputy may wish to note that I will host a Conference on the Governance Challenge for Future School Needs tomorrow in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham to consider the implications of new societal diversity on the future organisation of primary schools. It will be an opportunity for each of the main patron bodies to outline their vision of how the system needs to collectively evolve to respond to the changing circumstances. The Conference will focus on the particular challenges of ethos and inclusion for patron bodies, under both the new and existing patronage models, in ensuring that the system is appropriately attuned to future demands. The long term challenges of organising and developing our system of school governance to accommodate new parental demands and aspirations will be subject to consideration. The Conference will also deal with issues of capacity, choice, ensuring inclusion and the implications for enrolment policies.