Sir, – R Ryan (October 15th) seems exasperated that The Irish Times has published the story of a young girl rejected by local State-funded schools on religious grounds.
This is an unusual response to a newspaper reporting the news. Less unusual – indeed, sadly common – is his spectacular misunderstanding of how publicly-funded State institutions are supposed to function in a democracy.
I will give a personal example to help clarify things. My young son is not baptised. Our nearest school, which, like over 90 per cent of primary schools, happens to be under Catholic patronage but entirely funded by the State, is oversubscribed. Under the school’s enrolment criteria children of the patron’s religion are given priority (this is the case in over 96 per cent of primary schools in the State).
Thus, as the law stands, my child absolutely will not be considered for enrolment in the school. If I were to have him baptised, however, he would automatically jump into the very top category on the list of enrolment criteria.
Now, Mr Ryan states that “it just isn’t possible for everyone to be able to attend the school around the corner”. This is indeed absolutely correct. It is simply unthinkable that a school with a limited number of places should be compelled to offer a place to every child who applies as this would lead to ridiculous overcrowding.
When oversubscribed, schools need criteria by which to decide which children will be accepted.
However, here is where the difficulty arises. Children should at least have an equal opportunity to attend the school around the corner.
Democratic principles demand that State institutions be run in a fair and transparent manner. That over 96 per cent of schools in a democratic country should have a child’s religion as the number one enrolment criterion is nothing short of a disgrace and an international embarrassment.
People who despair of the current system of school enrolment and who campaign for the repeal of the law that allows it to persist (section 7(3)(c) of the Equal Status Act 2000) are not demanding automatic entry for their children to the local school. What they are demanding is that their child must have the same right of access as other children in the area, regardless of their religion or lack of religion.
They are also demanding that the system of enrolment be fair, predictable and transparent. In short, they are demanding equality and an end to State-endorsed religious discrimination against five-year-olds.
I hope this has cleared things up for Mr Ryan. – Yours, etc
PADDY MONAHAN,
Raheny,
Dublin 5