The joke that you have to enrol your child in secondary school at birth is starting to seem less funny as waiting lists get longer, with a number of schools' waiting lists extending to 2019. But while the chances of getting into some schools are slim, there are other ways of getting your child to the next level, writes Louise Holden
In 10 years, secondary school waiting lists have lengthened while State post-primary schools have seen their enrolments slashed. Since the abolition of third-level fees, parents have used the college fund for secondary schooling, and the private sector has become synonymous with academic success, at least in the public mind.
The result: long waiting lists for private schools, especially in south Dublin. Prestigious establishments such as Loreto College, St Stephen's Green are currently at capacity, on paper at least, for first year 2018. Gonzaga College receives many times more applications than it has places each year. Once Mount Anville Secondary School has allotted places to its junior school students and siblings of current pupils, it has little room for manoeuvre.
Meanwhile there is a panicky feeling among new parents in south Dublin as schools tighten their admissions policies and rule out the old nod-and-wink approach. It's no longer who you know that gets you a place in a private school - management boards can't afford the risk of litigation. Parents who feel that their child has been refused a place on unfair grounds can make an appeal under Section 29 of the Education Act. Last year there were 93 such appeals made at post-primary level - 57 made it to the hearing stage and 30 were upheld.
The ASTI describes 30 as "only a handful" but it's enough to make schools nervous. Most schools now have a copper-fastened, legally advised admissions policy - especially those schools in greatest demand. However, because the Education Act allows schools a considerable amount of leeway in how they construct their admissions policies, there is a now a confusing array of them.
Most schools admissions policies are hybrids of local tradition, legal necessity and administrative expedience. It's confounding for parents trying to make a call about their children's future - especially when the child is a newborn and as much a stranger to his parents as he is to the school.
Many schools, especially in the private boys sector, eschew the first come, first served process because it doesn't allow schools, or parents, the chance to match the child's needs with the school's offerings. Where there is an element of selection, the school can protect its ethos and the parents can make an informed decision. However, such a policy can leave schools open to appeal.
Jesuit private school Gonzaga College in Dublin has been the subject of a number of Section 29 appeals, none of which was upheld. Principal Patrick Potts says that Section 29s are inevitable in the private sector because the demand exceeds the supply.
"You're nobody if you haven't had a Section 29," he quips. "However, we have recently brought in a very tight admissions policy to protect ourselves from appeal. It doesn't matter if your child's name goes down as a foetus, what matters is that he is listed before the deadline, September of sixth class. After we have allotted places to brothers and sons of past pupils we usually have about 40 places left. All applicants for these places are asked to fill out a form and, on the strength of their answers, we bring about a third of the applicant families, about 120 this year, in for interview.
"From the interview we establish if each of the families has an understanding of the ethos of the school and accepts the academic culture that we emphasise here. All families that agree with what the school is doing have their applications put into a card index box and 40 names are drawn out by an independent party, usually a solicitor. I have no information about the academic background of the applicants involved. Ultimately, it's a lottery."
According to Brian Flannery of the Jesuit Education Office, all five Jesuit schools in the country have long waiting lists, and each operates a unique application process. However, he says, none of the five schools operates a first come, first served policy, which he regards as a "bizarre" approach. "Some girls' schools allot places based on the earliest applicants, which results in parents putting girls' names down at the point of conception," Flannery complains.
Loreto College, St Stephen's Green is one such school. Principal Triona Barrett feels that the first come, first served policy leaves the least amount of wiggle-room, thus minimising the risk of appeal. "After sisters, daughters and junior school students have been enrolled, approximately half of our first year places remain. We have huge waiting lists for those places, right up to 2018, and we allot them on a first come, first served basis. We don't find out anything about the student before offering her a place, so there's no scope for an appeal. The system is so tight I couldn't get a place for my own sister's children. It's quite a blunt instrument but it's utterly fair."
At St Mary's in Rathmines, the number of places left after siblings and junior school students have been enrolled is so low that waiting parents have a slim chance of acceptance.
"We don't want names sitting on a list for 12 years with no hope of admission," says principal Clive Byrne. "That is why we won't accept applications for 2019 until 2014. We already have 20 or 30 names for each year up to our deadline and none of them has a chance of getting in."
Byrne, who is a former president of the National Association for Principals and Deputy Principals, has watched the private sector bulge while the State sector starved ever since free university fees came in the 1990s.
"This is not a nationwide problem but an issue in Dublin 4 and 6. The power of parental choice, granted in the Education Act, means that the State can do nothing to intervene if demand is unbalanced."
He does not believe that private schools are necessarily better than State schools, but suggests that parents may be choosing schools for their student profile, rather than their teaching standards or facilities.
"Presentation College Glasthule used to be a fee-paying school. It fought to get into the free scheme in the 1990s - now it's set to close because of falling numbers. If Glasthule was still fee-paying it would be full."
He does not believe, however, that the waiting list phenomenon is simply a matter of parents' money burning a hole in their pockets. It's the perception that certain schools lure the right student and repel the rest. "The Gaelscoileanna, which are State schools, are completely oversubscribed. It may be because they attract a particular type of student."
Gaelscoileanna have become the preserve of Irish students from academically motivated backgrounds, as have private schools. Parents may be choosing schools so that their sons and daughters can be with the right classmates, rather than the right teachers. In a school where all the students come from homes where parents are hung up on education, results tend to be good - all the research indicates that educational achievement is a product of parental motivation.
So can a child from an educationally committed family do just as well in a State school as in a private one? Probably - but many Dublin parents will not use their own children to test the theory.
Gemma Tuffy of the ASTI says that these parents are putting themselves through unnecessary anxiety by overlooking state alternatives. "The most recent OECD report on the Irish education system, Education at a Glance 2006, shows that we have very high standards across all post-primary schools in Ireland. Parents need to keep an open mind and examine all the local options. Go and talk to the principal of the local State school and find the most suitable option for the child. Every parent wants to do the best for their child. There is no evidence that private schooling is the answer."
If you're still not convinced, try putting your child's name down for fifth year in the fee-paying school of your choice. The flight to even more expensive Leaving Cert grind schools might just free up some space. Alternatively, remember that the waiting list is a recent trend and bide your time. If third level fees are reintroduced after the next election, State schools might come rapidly back into vogue.
