Minister for Education Mary Hanafin returned last week to an issue she has addressed over the past two years - the discrimination practised by some second-level schools when it comes to the enrolment of students with special educational needs. This discrimination often takes an insidious form, as she noted in the Dáil. Some schools, she says, "seem not to be officially refusing to take students with special needs but rather encouraging parents to apply elsewhere on the basis that another school would better meet their needs".
This subtle form of discrimination is at work in many rural towns and regional cities. But the problem appears to be particularly acute in Dublin. Last month, new Department of Education figures showed how special needs provision in the capital is largely concentrated in State schools within the "free" second-level sector. The school with the highest level of provision was Newpark Comprehensive in Blackrock. Many fee-paying schools have virtually no provision for special needs pupils.
In a powerful article in The Irish Times last week, Newpark's former principal, Derek West, pointed to a developing "apartheid" in the education system. Few could quibble with the kernel of his argument - every school taking money from the State should, he says, be open to all. And fee-paying schools do receive a significant level of State subsidy; some €96 million annually, according to the most recent figures.
How should these private schools be cajoled into adopting a more inclusive approach? The Minister seems reluctant to threaten sanctions or other legal action. Instead, she has put the onus on parents to take action. Those who believe their child "has unjustly been refused a school place" should, she says, appeal under section 29 of the Education Act.
This process may work in individual cases but what is to be done to fundamentally change the approach of some schools? Both the Teachers Union of Ireland and Labour education spokeswoman Jan O'Sullivan have made a strong case for more direct action. The TUI says the State should move to withdraw funding from any school found to be excluding special needs pupils. Ms O'Sullivan says offending schools will not change their ways until forced to do so. Certainly, some kind of firm action is required. The Department of Education will shortly publish the results of an audit into enrolment policies in various regions of the State. It is expected to provide further evidence of a segregated eduction system and it should give Ms Hanafin the opening for a more vigorous approach.