Admission to Schools Bill 2016

Education (Admission to Schools) Bill Explanation

There has been lots of talk about the changes to the Admission to Schools Bill that will affect entry to primary and post primary schools nationwide. We’ve broken down the jargon, to (hopefully) explain clearly what it all means.So let’s start at the beginning;What is it?2011 – A discussion paper on school enrolment was launched and this was discussed at a public consultation.2013 – After this consultation a Draft General Scheme for an Education (Admission to Schools) Bill along with two other drafts were published.2014 – These were referred to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education & Social Protection and the public, parents and education stakeholders were given the chance to provide feedback on them. After this feedback was gathered, a report was completed and was published on the 5^th of March 2014. A few issues were raised but on the 25^th of March 2014, the Government gave approval for drafting Education (Admission to Schools) Bill.2015 – The bill was published on the 8^th of April 2015 BUT the bill was not passed through the House of the Oireachtas before Dáil Éireann was dissolved on the 3^rd of February2016 to allow for the election of a new government in the General Election which took place in 2016.So what does this mean?The draft bill has been discussed and debated recently as many people (including us in the ISSU) feel that it is needed but that it still doesn’t provide for all of the changes to the law that many people believe are necessary. It doesn’t prevent students being discriminated against on the basis of their religion or non-religion. Many people and organisations have been campaigning and asking for further changes to be made to the bill.However, this week the bill was approved by the government BUT without including a provision to remove the ‘baptism barrier’ which prevents students that have not been baptised from gaining entry to certain schools. The legislation is expected to be drafted by next week and the amendments that will be brought forward to change the law on school admissions include the following:

• Denominational schools (schools that have a faith ethos/that follow a certain religion) which are not oversubscribed (still have places), must admit all students who apply regardless of their religion;
• The government will ensure that a child with special needs is given the opportunity to attend a designated school by the National Council for Special Education or Tusla
• All schools will be required to publish their admission policies, including details on how they will provide for children who decline to take part in religious education;
• Waiting lists will be banned. This means that children can only apply for a place in a school one year before admission;
• School admission fees will be banned;
• Discrimination in school admissions will be banned BUT schools of a faith ethos (96% of primary schools) will still be allowed to give preference to students which practice that faith.

The above are welcomed changes, however it is disappointing that discrimination on the basis of religion has not been properly addressed. As we mentioned in our  Equal Access to Education post (http://issu.ie/2016/07/equalaccess/), we believe that all children and young people, regardless of their religious beliefs, should have the choice and option to attend their local school. While there are more multi-denominational and non-denominational second-level schools than non-faith ethos schools, such multi-denominational and non-denominational schools are not located in every area in the country so will not always be a student’s local school. This forces second-level students to travel to a school further away if the local school gives preference to students that practice a religion and so does not grant other students a place on the basis of religion even if the non-religion practicing students had applied for a place first. This will still be allowed to happen under the new legislation as schools will still be allowed to discriminate on the basis of religion.There is a need for Government to ensure that action is taken to ensure that the legislation is amended to outlaw this religious discrimination in schools. This change would ensure that we have schools which respect the values of inclusivity and equality and that these values would be promoted among young people through experiencing different cultures in school and having the chance to make friends from different religious and cultural backgrounds. This would be a really positive change for Irish society! Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie

Equal Access to Education

The Irish Second-Level Students' Union welcomes Education Equality's gathering yesterday and calls on the Government to implement proposed legislation to ensure that schools can no longer discriminate on the basis of religion.The ISSU believes that all children and young people, regardless of their religious beliefs, should have the choice and option to attend their local school. 80% of migrant children currently attend just 23% of Irish schools. It is vital that young people are not discriminated against on the basis of religion so that religious segregation is not allowed to continue in our education system. The government must introduce legislation now to ensure that Ireland has an education system which is free from discrimination and division. We must instill values in our children from a young age through inclusive schools to ensure that Irish communities and the wider Irish society are built on values of tolerance, integration and equality.We have been involved with the discussions and conversations in relation to the Admissions Bill to education. We will continue this work and hope that positive changes for admissions to schools will occur in the near future.For more information you can see Education Equality's website here: http://www.educationequality.ie/ Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie

Officer Blog: OBESSU Convention on Education and Work

Joanna reviews her trip to Brussels for the Convention on Education & Work.

Thank you to the Organising Bureau of Student Unions for organising this convention!

 OBESSU - What is it again?The Organising Bureau for European School Student Unions (OBESSU) is an organisation which connects and supports student voice on a European level. It was set up in Dublin 30 years ago and today OBESSU is a 22 member strong body, which works tirelessly to advocate for student rights and bring European student unions together for training's, conventions and study sessions to discuss various topics relevant to them. OBESSU is best defined by its political platform, a document which sets out the main objectives and stands of the Bureau, available on their website. It’s a vibrant and super engaging organisation which does amazing work for students. Find out more here -  http://www.obessu.org/  #EduWork The OBESSU convention on Education and Work ran from the 24th to the 28th of May in Brussels. This convention brought participants from countries such as Czech Republic, Finland, Slovakia, Romania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to name a few. I represented Ireland through the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU).We came together to discuss recent developments and reports regarding the discourse and actions that EU institutions are adopting on the topic of education and work… Basically we brainstormed and explained situations in our own countries, what we believed in and what we wanted to see happen. Then we investigated what EU bodies are saying on these topics and how we want to respond to them.These conventions are brilliant for really getting to understand a topic and for me, it showed me how EU debates and decisions influence Irish politics on the topic of education and its’ links to work. So, what did we do in Brussels? The week began with getting to know each other and getting to know statistical information from different countries, as well as chatting about our experiences and attitudes towards education and work in our countries. There was an online phase before the convention, and some of the research that we carried out there was used to make a map of youth unemployment and NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) young people.To be honest, I found it difficult to focus just on the unemployed group of young people and their experiences of education, when in my opinion NEETs are a group with much bigger issues. Also, it quickly became evident that when it comes to living in poverty and difficulties in accessing both education and work, there are particular groups in society who face this problem more than others. Migrants, and especially migrants from non-EU countries are the most vulnerable group. But, this convention dealt with education and work on a European level and national level within our countries and organisations. So from day two, we focused on this theme. Some of the highlights :) It was great that during the week we got to talk to a panel of MEPs and a panel of stakeholders, representing EU institutions, trade unions, youth and corporations. Both panel debates were very interesting and gave us a real chance to engage with the European discourses and get good insights into the topic.We had sessions on work of national institutions, OBESSU and other youth organisations who lobby on a European level, discussing skills for the labour market and many discussions on links of vocational education to work and shaping curricula and attitudes in schools towards providing pupils with skills needed for work.Different student unions had very different things to say about how vocational education is regarded in their countries and how curricula are either incredibly outdated or re-designed in favour of the  needs of the labour market. I also found it interesting how much emphasis the EU is putting on the ‘skills agenda’ or what’s called ‘skills mismatch’. These terms are used to explain why our schools need to change how they teach in order to prepare students for the labour market, because currently the ‘mismatch’ occurs for some graduates from school/college and it means that students have skills that don’t suit the needs of the labour market… Which I 100% disagree with!!Education is for life, not for labour markets. Skills should be adaptable. School should focus on producing creative, critical and healthy individuals who have the abilities necessary to face challenges of life. Students should be taught to manage and organise themselves and most importantly, engage in life-long learning beyond formal education. This ‘mismatch’ is not an issue of student knowledge and skills, it’s an issue of the labour markets adaptability and being able to make the most out of the potential of the graduates that we have. And, it’s also an issue of some school systems still being based on an old-style industrial model of learning material off by heart, without any continuous assessment or critical thinking skills. We need education reform and for labour markets to adapt for students, not for students to adapt for labour markets.It drove me crazy to look over the EU research in this field! But what’s important to remember, is that at OBESSU trips I am representing the students of Ireland, not my personal beliefs, so I tried my best to focus on the discourse in Ireland and what we have been hearing from students at various events and our AGM on this topic. OMCs and other interesting things to research! For anyone interested in how EU education policies are formed and how they influence national agendas, I highly recommend looking up the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) group on Education. These groups don’t make binding laws, but their discussions influence politicians from around Europe, who then bring what they discussed and learned in the OMC back to their home countries to continue the conversation. The conversations around education and work are based on different perspectives in the OMC - not just education to fill labour gaps, but also education as something that is our human right and that is necessary for life, not for work.So, after many discussions, which went on long past the dedicated session times and really opened my eyes to the topic of education and work, it was time for conclusions and drafting plans for our home organisations!I brainstormed a bit with friends from the Czech student union and got a lot of inspiration from the Finnish reps. I  then sat down to write my plan. There was a ‘local phase’ aspect to the convention. This means that all of the participants will try to incorporate the topic of education and work and the learning that they have gathered over the week into the work plans of their organisations. This is a bit tricky, because as a representative of ISSU I couldn’t make decisions on behalf of the whole union. However, I could brainstorm ideas and learn from the other organisations and form a proposal to the National Student Executive (NSE).I thought that a blog outlining the event was a must, but I also considered actions such as writing letters to the minister for jobs, commenting on the skills-agenda in Ireland and encouraging education for life discourse, and not education for work language; for example there is a lot of incentivising done to Irish students to take STEM subjects, not because there is a boom in interest among young people in maths, science and technology subjects, but because there are jobs in them. This encouragement to get an education with the goal of getting a job in a field is not right. Education should be for life. When students are  making choices about what fields of study to go into, they should have the freedom to chose the topics that they feel most passionate or concerned about and which they enjoy. We want students to be happy and fulfilled by their studies, not to get caught in a course because they feel forced into it, or like it is the only option in order to make money some day. We can see the negative effects of this in the high dropout rates of students who took up STEM, when it wasn’t right for them.Effective guidance counselling, work experience programmes and tasters/shadow opportunities to experience what different education paths and fields are like are so important for students to help them make the right choices for themselves. And most importantly, students must have the freedom to chose what will make them happy and fulfilled as a person. No one should be setting an agenda for education. Human rights are not debatable.I feel strongly about this topic and I would be more than happy to work with the NSE on designing workshops on this topic for use in student council meet ups and our Regional Councils in September/October. It would help us reach out to students with this topic and make them aware of it, as well as empowering them and our organisation in order to take an active part in the discussions with Irish politicians about it.My plans are drafted in my learning notebook from the week and ready for proposal at the upcoming student executive meeting. Also, if anything in my blog sparked your interest or you have any questions and the link between education and work, about OBESSU or how ISSU engages with other second-level students’ unions and then with our own grass root members in order to shape policies and action plans - drop us an email at info@issu.ie or joanna@issu.ie :) I’d be happy to answer!Then it ended… Time for the next project! The week in Brussels ended super emotional, as always. But, I was lucky because less than 48 hours later I was back in the European capital! I am currently a part of the 6-person prep team for OBESSU's Summer School ‘Democracy and Active Participation’ which will take place in Kosovo this July! The prep team met for 2 days and it was a very intense yet interesting experience. For more updates on the summer school and what I learned while sitting on the prep team, keep an eye out on the ISSU social media and follow myself and our President Jane on Snapchat from July 2nd, and see for yourself what the summer school will be like! Snapchat @issu4u Photo Credits: OBESSU http://www.obessu.org :)Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie

Leaving Certificate Applied Maths

Liam - Higher Level 

Questions that I did: 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10Applied Maths. The last exam. The end of LC'16. This finale could not have come sooner in my opinion. The exam was okay, some questions needed more time than the exam permitted, other questions were grand!I stared off with 8, just to get the moment of inertia proof out of the way,  it was for a rod so it was reasonably simple and the following question was good too! 10 took a few minutes to comprehend, and I took my normal maths teacher's advice, if you don't understand, draw a graph. And so I did! The questions weren't the worst, but then I got onto question 1.I usually love question 1. Usually. It was one where I kept coming back to it , don't even know why! It was tricky out.  3 was okay too. The first part I thought okay , but again, timing out me off getting it properly. 4 and 5 were okay I think. I got them so that's good… right ??Overall , it wasn't perfect my any means, but long live attempt marks… eh?Thanks so much for reading my and every one else's blogs over the course of LC 2016, hopefully we helped you get closure over the exams after them and now we can forget ALLLLL about them. Live long and prosper folks! 

Cárthach - Higher Level 

Okay, so this was an extra subject. Glad to be done. I found it extremely difficult.Forgetting my calculator was a first mistake, but it was only outside the door so my examiner allowed me to go get it! So despite being off to a bad start, I managed Question 1. (I) but the rest, I thought, were questions that were challenging and very tricky to understand, and almost misleading.After speaking to a few people, nobody was a fan of the paper...and the different style question 4(a) and tricky 'a' parts all around.It was an extra subject for me, but overall, it's main benefit was that it helped with honours Maths!Congrats on everyone who finished today! As I'm writing this from the sesh; I have walked a long road to freedom, and added a good few miles by choosing this subject, it was a painful pleasure!-Cárthach Ó Faoláin out!Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie

Leaving Certificate Japanese

Klara - Higher Level

Japanese, my last exams and possibly one of the better ones!The minute the exam started I went straight to the last section to see what essay titles came up. I was most worried about the essays as you never know what could come up. However, over the two years of the course the amount of vocabulary you build up really helps to deal with any essay title that comes up - even if you've never written about it before.  The short essay was a choice between writing a diary entry on a hiking trip or on a film festival. For both you had to talk about how the event went and what you did straight afterwards.  The long essay was the first email you would send to a Japanese pen pal in which you would describe your family, Irish weather, food, your area, your daily routine in school and what they they should bring with them if they came to Ireland.The reading comprehension were easy overall, however, it took me a long time to work out some of the katakana readings. I had to read them over and over in my head to try and understand the meaning.The grammar questions were actually pretty good too; changing into the positive and particles came up. The kanji that came up were also pretty easy and there was no obscure kanji compound.The listening was also quite easy but I found parts of the last section challenging to understand.Overall, this was a great exam and I can safely say that my Leaving cert has ended on a high note! 

Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie

Leaving Certificate Music

Liam - Higher Level 

As I woke up this morning I felt a great wave of relief. My final exam, music. I've always struggled with the theory side of music but I wasn't nervous whatsoever for this exam, as all I could not think about was finishing this bloody leaving cert.

The first paper was the listening paper. I thought it went brilliantly. The question on Mozart, Sea Changes, Berlioz and the Beatles were all excellent. The essay went terribly however. I did the one about Irish song tradition but thankfully it's not worth many marks. We then had a fifteen minute break before paper two. I tried to study during this but I was just not able to.

Paper two was such a relief. I did question 1 and question 5 (the ones everyone do). They went very well. With just fifteen minutes left I finished. With a sigh of relief I handed up my paper. No more leaving cert <3 No more school <3 Finished at last <3

Emma - Higher Level 

Music!! The listening paper for me was a fail! The Mozart was so unexpected and that threw me for the rest of the paper! The written had two minor harmony and melodies and that's what I chose! They were quite nice and I was so HAPPY to see everyone else got C minor too!

Hopefully the listening won't affect me so much!! I'm so happy the leaving cert is over!!

Klara - Higher Level

The music listening paper could not have been better. At first when I saw that the third movement of Mozart's piano concerto came up as a long question I was really worried because it was the one I knew the least but the questions were actually very easy and general. Even the dictation type question was okay as they gave you options. The Berlioz excerpt was the idée fixe from Un Bal with questions on instrumentation and how it is used in the work. Next was a question on the Beatles' "When I'm 64". One of the questions was to differentiate the given verse (verse 2) and the first which is not included in the excerpt, I found this one difficult but the rest were fine. Deane was the fourth question with an excerpt of the main melody. I really dislike Deane and was dreading this question but I think it went ok. Again, we had to differentiate this section from when it is first heard in the piece and we also had to identify the percussion instruments.The Irish listening went pretty well overall. The essay titles were great. I was especially happy that an essay on O'Riada came up.The unheard listening was a bit different from the other years, as all the excerpts were from the same piece, as opposed to being from different pieces. The questions were also quite easy although I wasn't too sure about the last one which was to show how the music conveys the time of death. Overall, it was a very good paper.I wasn't as happy with the composing paper though, unfortunately. Both Q1 and Q5 were in the minor key, with an anacrusis. The melody wasn't too bad though as it was in 3/4 time. The Chords and Bassline question was pretty difficult though in my opinion as I found it difficult to get a good progression and bassline. I was writing up until the very last minute and didn't get the time to look over it at all. I think though, with the listening paper being so good, the exam went really well!Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie