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The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn T.D., today (Monday 13th June) opened the way for an overhaul of the enrolment policies in all schools. Minister Quinn published a discussion document on admissions policy aimed at leading to changes in regulations and legislation on how primary and post primary schools allocate places to students.

“Central to this debate on enrolment is the need to ensure a fair and transparent system at all of our schools, which does not discriminate unfairly against students or parents. At the heart of this paper is the simple question, ‘Can we find a better way for all?’” said Minister Quinn.

“This document is not meant to be prescriptive, nor have any decisions been made as to what elements will be contained in any final regulations or legislation. It is meant to lead and provoke debate on enrolment policies.”

The document, “Discussion Paper on a Regulatory Framework for School Enrolment” contains suggestions on how to make the process of enrolling at either primary or second level schools more open, equitable and consistent.

There are two key areas where regulations, according to the paper, could focus:

• the content of an enrolment policy, in particular the over subscription criteria to be used when demand for places exceeds supply
• the operation of the enrolment policy

On the content of the enrolment policy, suggestions in the discussion document include:

• the enrolment policy of the school be easily and readily available to all
• the school’s ethos and general objectives should be set out clearly
• admission to the school cannot be conditional on the payment of a financial contribution or booking deposit
• how to deal with over-subscription

80% of all schools enrol all children who present, according to a 2009 ESRI report, while selection criteria are used for the other 20% of schools. However, appeals have risen dramatically, by over 750%, since the procedure was introduced in 2002.

One of the main areas where problems do currently arise with enrolment in schools is when demand exceeds supply of places at a school. The discussion document sets out a number of options to be considered in these cases:

• Age of applicant. Schools could give, as is often the case now, priority to children who are older
• Remove waiting lists. This is seen to disadvantage new comers to an area
• The practice of giving priority on a first come first served basis, which can result in long waiting lists in schools or even queues forming outside schools at the time of enrolment. However, if such a decision was taken, consideration would have to be given as to how to deal with existing waiting lists.
• Siblings in the same school. It would seem reasonable to continue to give priority to students who already have siblings in a school
• Remove the practice of giving priority to a student on the basis of being a relative of the staff, board of management, past pupil or benefactor of the school
• Faith. Continue the right of denominational schools to give priority to children of a particular faith
• Give priority to pupils on the basis of proximity to their schools.
• Replace requirements for competency of parents in a particular language with a criterion that parents should respect the linguistic policy of the school
• Ensure that admission to a school is not based on a pupil’s academic or other skills.
• Admission should not be contingent on the payment of a booking deposit

In relation to the operation of the enrolment process, the discussion paper suggests that regulations could standardise timeframes for enrolment, notification requirements, application processes, decision making processes and the appeals process.

The overall approach in the discussion document is to regulate only those aspects of enrolment policies and practices where a common or national approach may be desirable. Otherwise, maximum discretion remains with the school and board of management. However, the paper also sets out possible new sanctions in a case where a school or board of management is not compliant with any new regulations. In such cases, a patron or the Minister may have the power to appoint an external admissions officer and remove the control of enrolment from a board.

The Minister is inviting education partners and interested parties to submit their views on school enrolment to the Department by the 28th of October. A new regulatory framework will then be devised on school enrolment.

“I look forward to hearing the opinions of our education partners on this enrolment discussion document. While decision making on enrolment should remain, as much as possible, at school level we must ensure that every child is treated fairly and that every child has a place at school,” Minister Quinn concluded.

The discussion document can be found at the department’s website at