The Minister for Education will sign the commencement order on Wednesday.
Minister for Education Richard Bruton will finally sign an order on Wednesday morning to put an end to the ‘baptism barrier’ — the right of primary schools to give preference to children based on whether or not they’ve been baptised.
In a tweet posted early on Wednesday morning, Bruton said: “I will sign an order this morning to remove religion as a factor that can be used in admissions in virtually all primary schools.
“This applies from today. I will also bring into operation other key parts of the School Admissions Act to ensure greater fairness in admissions.”
As the school year has already started, this will only affect the admissions process starting in the academic year 2019/2020.
Schools had previously been allowed to give enrolment priority to children based on religion in cases of over-subscription. This right will still be available for non-Catholic schools — which account for roughly 10% of all Irish primary schools.
I will sign an order this morning to remove religion as a factor that can be used in admissions in virtually all primary schools. This applies from today. I will also bring into operation other key parts of the School Admissions Act to ensure greater fairness in admissions
— Richard Bruton (@RichardbrutonTD) October 3, 2018
Plans to outlaw the baptism barrier were first announced earlier in 2018.
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