Reserving 1/4 school places for kids of past-pupils elitist & wrong
Labour Party Education spokesperson, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has hit out at Fine Gael for reserving 25% of school places for the children and grandchildren of past-pupils in the Admissions to Schools Bill
Senator Ó Ríordáin said:
“It is outrageous that a school should be allowed to keep 25% of its student body for children and grandchildren of past pupils. It is clear the this was included in the Admissions to School Bill at the behest of the fee-paying school sector.
“It is clear that the Cabinet have an open-door policy when it comes to private, fee-paying schools.
“This 25% policy will discriminate against students who come from poorer backgrounds and will keep the ‘royal blood line’ of succession in our private schools.
“We need to be perfectly clear about what we are saying here. This Bill proposes that all schools should be allowed to provide a certain number of places to the children of parents or grandparents of past pupils. This automatically means that a child whose parents, or potentially grandparents, did not go to secondary school, will be at a disadvantage where a school is oversubscribed.
“This section of the Bill is odious, elitist and wrong, I would say that Fine Gael should be ashamed, but let’s be clear they won’t be, as they are continuing to serve the elite in this country.”