Greg Daly
Debate about the role of religion in school admissions processes continues to take place in the absence of data, heedless of how oversubscription and a lack of resources are the real problems on the ground, according to the body that represents Ireland’s Catholic primary schools.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic following a forum in Croke Park to discuss ways of tackling problems related to the so-called ‘baptism barrier’, Hazel O’Connor of the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association said, “There isn’t actually a problem – it’s created by the general media”.
The forum, she explained, had been called by Education Minister Richard Bruton in connection with four proposals the Department of Education had identified on how to legislate to address the perceived barrier. Submissions had been invited from interested parties, which were then asked to participate in the forum.
Vacuum
“We seem to almost be operating in a vacuum in that there are definitely issues with oversubscription in some areas,” said Ms O’Connor, continuing, “but as for this perceived baptism barrier there’s no actual evidence or data that has been gathered in a substantial enough size to prove that there are any systemic problems, which is what this legislation seems to suggest.”
Maintaining that “the bottom line is that there aren’t enough school places for children”, she observed that “Our work with schools would say it’s resources not religion all of the time.”
Ms O’Connor praised the department for engaging with interested parties through the forum, and noted that one interesting proposal that arose over the day was that schools could share admission and application processes.
“One of the larger issues in the area of oversubscription – and this is no fault of parents who are just trying to ensure their child gets a place – is that they’re applying for multiple schools so it’s really hard to figure out how many children are not getting places or on what basis,” she said.
Explaining that a common application process where parents applied for an area, prioritising the schools they’d most like their children to attend, would highlight where resources are needed or where multidenominational education is wanted, she said, “I think all of these problems could be resolved at local level with increased resources.”