Friday, March 5, 2010

Can we have Educate Together Secondary schools now please?

Lots of people want it. Primary schools are oversubscribed. I think the choice people have for secondary schooling in Ireland is bizarrely limited.

I'm so ... tired, of all this lack of innovation, and choice, and quality. I don't want to send my daughter half way into town to school. Not really. I hope the planned school near to us goes ahead.

That is all, for now.

9 comments:

Irmhild said...

I know people that put their 2 year old's names down for primary school in the town 5km down the road so they'll have a chance of getting into the secondary school there, we don't have one in our village and the one in the village close by is meant to be really rough... i wonder should i do that, but it'll be so tough when i go back to work!!

Jo said...

You just put her name down everywhere and wait and see... all it takes to get an ET school started in your area is a willing committee... check out the site for details.

Martin said...

The Church have bossed it up to now, and the state don't want to touch the responsibility with a barge pole.

Unless you are happy with the church influenced school choices it is a nightmare.

I feel like I should swear in this comment for some reason.

Jo said...

I'd say that would be the depressing and frustrating nature of the situation.

Unknown said...

Home Schooling is looking more and more attractive... Thinking about schools in Ireland makes my head want to explode. It's fucking (I see what you mean xbox!) archaic.

Rosie said...

all it takes to get an ET school started in your area is a willing committee

sadly it doesn't work that way any more, Jo. the Dept. of Ed. will no longer sanction new schools unless they're in areas of rapid population growth (as defined by the Dept) and to get a school up and running for a year without their sanction costs upwards of 100k.

Jo said...

Oh, hmm, i might have been a bit blasé there alright. It's just they did it in Greystones so well... but that probably is an area of rapid growth.

Rosie said...

they were lucky - the minister moved the goalposts in september 2008, just after they'd opened their doors. prior to that all you needed was a minimum number of pre-enrolled pupils, a few quid and a patron. educate together are still campaigning to be allowed to found new schools, but it's much more difficult now. there were no new schools opened in 2009, and only 7 are to open in 2010, despite a significant demand in a lot of other areas. get stuck in with the local campaign though, it can't hurt.

Jo said...

Sigh. Fingers crossed.