Will Quinn impose sanctions to stop 'apartheid' in schools? [IrishTimes]
- Published: 26 July 2011
ANALYSIS: WHILE THE judge ruled in favour of the Clonmel school, this case has been groundbreaking.
Despite yesterday’s ruling, Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn appears determined to press ahead with changes to school admissions policies.
It was one of the factors that prompted the Minister to publish a discussion document on school admission policies in June.
In the Clonmel case, the school gave priority to Catholic applicants whose fathers or brothers were past pupils.
In practice, this means that a whole swathe of students – Travellers, most foreign nationals and non-Catholics among them – can be excluded from the school.
For the department, and particularly for Quinn, this kind of exclusion is intolerable, especially when the range of alternative (ie non-Catholic ) school options is so limited in most rural towns.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
