More than 80 pupils without school places accessing home tutors

More than 80 students are currently in receipt of home tutoring because there are no places for them in oversubscribed schools.

The grant provides families with funding to secure nine hours of home tuition as a measure of last resort if they cannot get a school place.

The details have emerged amid controversy over the volume of children without secondary school places next September due to oversubscribed schools in five counties.

The areas affected include Co Kildare (Prosperous/Clane, Celbridge, Naas, Kilcock, Kildare Town/Curragh, Maynooth, Newbridge), Dublin (Newcastle/Rathcoole, Lucan, Malahide/Nevinstown, Carpenterstown, Castleknock, Portmarnock), Co Cork (Clonakilty, Fermoy, Midleton), Co Wicklow (Greystones, Kilcoole) and Co Galway (Athenry, Galway City, Oranmore).

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In a statement, the Department of Education said home tuition, where required for reasons of not immediately having a school place, remains a “short-term intervention” and is “not an alternative to a school placement”.

However, a number of parents in the Kildare area, in particular, say their children who were unable to get first year secondary school places last September have been in receipt of home tuition since, without any sign of getting a place in the area.

Olga Farrell, the grandmother of Nikolai Pavlov Merriman (12) from Clane, Co Kildare, said he has been at home since last September, receiving between six and nine hours of home tutoring a week, after trying unsuccessfully to get a school place.

“We did not choose this. Families have to sacrifice so much ... It is a huge financial burden as well as a big emotional shock to a child. It seems the politicians don’t get it. They don’t feel our pain.”

Another parent of a 13 year old girl from Clane (see case study, below) who was also unable to secure a secondary school place last September, said the impact on her child was “devastating”.

“She’s stuck at home ... It has really impacted on her. She used to love GAA. Now, she feels so distant from her friends that it’s hit and miss if she goes. She’s gone in on herself ... I just feel she’s been completely forgotten about,” said the mother, who asked not to be identified.

A spokesman for the Department of Education said the picture in relation to school place requirements is “very dynamic” and was a particular issue in parts of the country where expansion of residential development has been contributing to midyear demand for places.

He said one of the reasons why home tuition might be required for a period is to allow time for a school transport solution to be put in place so that a child can avail of a school placement.

Of the 81 children currently in receipt of home tuition grants due to not having a school place, 11 are in the Co Kildare area.

Nationally, a total of 119 pupils have been sanctioned for home tuition grants in this category in the current 2023/24 school year. This figure includes pupils who have since taken up a school place. A total of 202 pupils were sanctioned for home tuition on this basis last year.

Minister for Education Norma Foley said on Wednesday that her department was engaging directly with schools in the areas affected to determine how many school places are needed.

She said if no spaces were available within existing buildings, additional temporary accommodation may be provided to boost capacity.

In the north Kildare and north Wicklow area alone, campaigners estimate that up to 150 children are without school places.

Ms Foley said the duplication of applications and students applying from outside local areas may be driving a requirement for additional school places, in addition to population growth.

However, in the case of Greystones in north Wicklow – where an estimated 70 children are estimated to be without school places – campaigners say there is no duplication of applications as secondary schools in the area share their enrolment data.

‘I just feel she’s been completely forgotten about’

Despite attending the primary feeder school for her local secondary school in Clane, Co Kildare, Máire’s daughter missed out on a first year school place last September.

She was on waiting lists for the school as well as two other over-subscribed secondary schools in nearby Prosperous and Celbridge.

“I was so upset,” says Máire, who asked that her real name not be used to protect her daughter’s identity. “She went to school here all her life. I assumed she’s be entitled to a school place, but I was wrong.” When September came she was advised by her local education welfare officer to find teachers willing to provide home tuition, under a scheme that provides up to nine hours of State-funded home tuition.

“There was no support. It’s red tape and bureaucracy. I wasn’t given any list of teachers. I literally put up ads up on Facebook and gave notes to friends who were teachers. You’re left on your own to organise it all,” she says.

Eventually, she says, she found two tutors by October to provide geography, history and English. “No maths – it was impossible to find anyone,” she says.

The worst part, she says, is the isolation.

“She’s stuck at home. I’ve had to reduce my working hours; I’ve had to pull in elderly grandparents, friends. I don’t want her on her own.

“It has really impacted on her. She used to love GAA. Now, she feels so distant from her friends that it’s hit and miss if she goes. She’s gone in on herself ... I just feel she’s been completely forgotten about” She says she feels angry at comments from the Minister for Education which suggested that problems with enrolment were due to new arrivals to areas or duplicate applications for schools.

“She’s lived here all her life. And parents are being advised by schools to apply to all the schools. It’s not parents’ fault,” she says. “At one point, I was told by someone in the [department] could I borrow money and apply for a private school.”

On January 18th, she says funding for the home tuition scheme was pulled. She says she has to reapply with new letters from schools, confirming that they have no place for her.

There was some good news recently: she got a place for first year in 2024 in the local secondary school, a year later than planned. Her daughter will turn 14 a few months after starting.

“What’s frustrating is they should have seen this coming,” says Máire. “They know how many are in primary and what places there are in secondary ... You work hard and pay your taxes, and this is what happens.”

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