State to regulate school enrolment [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 26 July 2011
THE question of how schools should decide which children to enrol is to be set down by state regulations.
They are likely to include stipulations that the attendance of a parent or sibling should not be used to determine a child’s eligibility for a place in a school.
The Department of Education said it noted yesterday’s ruling at Clonmel Circuit Court, in which a secondary school’s decision not to enrol a Traveller boy was upheld after its appeal against an earlier Equality Tribunal decision.
He was one of a number of pupils whose application was unsuccessful because he did not meet one of the criteria that gave preference to boys whose father or older brother had already attended the school.
Full Story: www.examiner.ie
School wins appeal over entry bias [IrishTimes]
- Published: 25 July 2011
A Co Tipperary secondary school has successfully appeal against an Equality Tribunal ruling that it indirectly discriminated against Travellers when it refused a Traveller child admission.
Judge Tom Teehan allowed the appeal by the CBS High School, Secondary School, Clonmel against the decision of the Equality Tribunal that it should offer John Stokes s a place and review its admission policy to ensure that it did not indirectly discriminate against any child.
John (13), through his mother Mary and instructed by the Irish Traveller Movement Independent Law Centre, lodged the complaint against the school on the grounds that it had breached the Equal Status Act.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Trio of new primary schools promised for Dublin [schooldays.ie]
- Published: 25 July 2011
Dublin is to get three new primary schools by next year, after the Department of Education and Skills invited applications for facilities.
The Evening Herald reports that Ballinteer, Stepaside and Tallaght will be considered as locations for new establishments.
One campaigner, Martin O'Flaherty of the South Dublin Together Action Group, said the announcement is a "major boost" as more and more parents are expressing their desires for an Educate Together school in these areas.
Head of education and network development at Educate Together Emer Nowlan also welcomed the decision.
Full Story: www.schooldays.ie
Sex education 'should start early' [belfasttelegraph.co.uk]
- Published: 24 July 2011
Nearly half (49.2%) said lessons on the topic should begin between the ages of eight and 12, while a further three in 10 (30.5%) said they should start when pupils are aged 12 to 15.
But one in seven parents (13.9%) said that youngsters should begin learning about sex and relationships between the ages of five and eight, while 4.1% said that under-fives should be given classes.
Full Story: www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Intelligent design [sbpost.ie]
- Published: 24 July 2011
Schoolchildren who possess exceptional academic ability have traditionally been left to their own devices in the classroom. But being ahead of the pack academically doesn’t always guarantee an easy passage through the education system
When secondary school student Tommy Collison wrote a blog post about the use of the word ‘‘gifted’’ to describe youngsters with high academic ability, it caused a small furore. Collison, himself one of those youngsters, doesn’t like the term. What’s more, he accused some ‘‘gifted’’ youngsters of showing arrogance about their intelligence.
His remarks drew a significant backlash from his peers, and also generated some criticism from adults. ‘‘I suspect you’d do a lot more for the ‘gifted’ students by addressing their deficits, rather than focusing on their already exceptional abilities," said one. The episode highlighted how emotionally fraught the debate on education in this country can be.
Full Story: www.sbpost.ie
