Principals seek action on second-level waiting lists

PRINCIPALS want a ban on waiting lists for second-level enrolments until pupils reach sixth class, to help stop some schools cherry-picking students.

The National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), which represents heads of the country’s 740 second-level schools, also proposes that existing education staff are in a position to highlight where schools may be operating policies which exclude children with special needs, Travellers or newcomer students who need extra English classes.

In their response to former Education Minister Mary Hanafin’s recent report highlighting the sporadic evidence of schools which are not inclusive to these groups, the principals reject suggestions that a post of Enrolments Commissioner should be created to monitor admissions to schools.