Schools crisis System to blame for problems

The untenable situation existing in Limerick at the moment, whereby seventeen young people are being denied educational facilities in second-level schools, is obviously symptomatic of deep-rooted problems arising from the junior cycle they passed through.

Next week, Education Minister Noel Dempsey will meet parents, school principals and local representatives in the city in an effort to resolve the crisis.

If the seventeen boys are being denied places because of the fact that they come from disadvantaged areas, then the Minister must surely have remedies at hand to bring local secondary schools into line with department policy, not to mention the boys’ constitutional rights.