The Government has passed a bill that will see an end to the baptism barrier in Irish primary schools.
Catholic primary schools will be banned from discriminating against non-baptised children when deciding who can attend their school.
The historical move is due to come into action in September 2019, according to the Minister for Education.
The first of of these amendments will remove the role of religion in school admissions for virtually all primary schools
— Richard Bruton (@RichardbrutonTD) May 9, 2018
Richard Bruton stated, “It is unfair that a local child of no religion is passed over in favour of a child of religion, living some distance away for access to their local school. Parents should not feel pressured to baptise their child to get access to their local school.”
He explained that even though 90 percent of our primary schools are of a Catholic ethos, new figures found that 20 percent of the parent-age population is non-religious.
“Recent marriage statistics for 2017 show that only approximately 51% of marriages occurred in a Catholic ceremony,” he added.
The exception for minority faith children, is because only 1 out of every 20 of our primary schools are of minority ethos and they need to ensure that children of minority faith can access an education through their ethos, if that is their choice
— Richard Bruton (@RichardbrutonTD) May 9, 2018
The Minister for Education stressed the fact that this new bill will only affect schools that have more applications than available places.
Schools that are not oversubscribed must continue to accept all applicants, regardless of religion
Schools of minority religions will also be exempt from this change.
The changes balance the rights of three different groups; minority religion families, catholic families, and non-denominational families
— Richard Bruton (@RichardbrutonTD) May 9, 2018
Minister Bruton also revealed that he will be making additional changes to the School Admissions Bill, such as allowing Gaelscoileanna to prioritise Irish speaking children.
He also shared his hopes to establish classes for children with special needs.
