Ireland
Country
Topic:
specific provisions in the Constitution.
These constitutional provisions are as follows:
Article 40.1
1. All citizens shall, as human persons, be held equal before the law.
This shall not be held to mean that the State shall not in its enactments have due regard to differences of capacity, physical and moral, and of social function.
Article 42
1. The State acknowledges that the primary and natural educator of the child is the Family and guarantees to respect the inalienable right and duty of parents to provide, according to their means, for the religious and moral, intellectual, physical and social education of their children.
2. Parents shall be free to provide this education in their homes or in private schools or in schools recognised or established by the State.
3.1 The State shall not oblige parents in violation of their conscience and lawful preference to send their children to schools established by the State, or to any particular type of school designated by the State.
3.2 The State shall, however, as guardian of the common good, require in view of actual conditions that the children receive a certain minimum education, moral, intellectual and social.
4. The State shall provide for free primary education and shall endeavour to supplement and give reasonable aid to private and corporate educational initiative, and, when the public good requires it, provide other educational facilities or institutions with due regard, however, for the rights of parents, especially in the matter of religious and moral formation.
5. In exceptional cases, where the parents for physical or moral reasons fail in their duty towards their children, the State as guardian of the common good, by appropriate means shall endeavour to supply the place of the parents, but always with due regard for the natural and imprescriptible rights of the child.
Article 44
4. Legislation providing State aid for schools shall not discriminate between schools under the management of different religious denominations, nor be such as to affect prejudicially the right of any child to attend a school receiving public money without attending religious instruction at that school.
5. Every religious denomination shall have the right to manage its own affairs, own, acquire and administer property, movable and immovable, and maintain institutions for religious or charitable purposes.
6. The property of any religious denomination or any educational institution shall not be diverted save for necessary works of public utility and on payment of compensation.
Comprehensive legislation has been drafted after widespread and extensive consultation between successive Ministers for Education and Science and the partners in education. This legislation is enshrined in the Education Act, 1998, which passed through all stages in the Dail and Seanad and was signed into law on December 23, 1998. The Act provides that all its provisions will be put into effect within two years.
The Preamble to the Act is as follows:
An Act to make provision in the interests of the common good for the education of every child in the State, including any child with special educational needs and to provide generally for primary, post-primary, adult and continuing education and vocational education and training; to ensure that the educational system is accountable to students, their parents and the State for the education provided, respects the diversity of values, beliefs and traditions in Irish society and is conducted in a spirit of partnership between schools, patrons, students, parents, teachers and other school staff and the State; to provide for the recognition and funding of schools and their management through boards of management, to provide for an Inspectorate of Schools, to provide for the role and responsibilities of principals and teachers, to establish the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and to provide for other matters.
The principal features of the Bill are as follows:
- the recognition of schools and the funding of recognised schools
- the Inspectorate of the Department of Education and Science is placed on a statutory footing
- provision for the establishment of boards of management for schools receiving
public funds
- provision for the composition of boards, their functions and related matters
- the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment is placed on a statutory
footing
- a range of issues including the school year and week, the curriculum and appeals is provided for.
Special Education and the Education Act.
The preamble makes specific reference to provision for the education of persons with disabilities or special educational needs. A stated objective of the Act is "to give practical effect to the constitutional rights of children, including children who have a disability or other special educational needs.
It is a stated function of the Minister for Education and Science to ensure that support services and a level and quality of education appropriate to their needs and abilities are made available to persons with disabilities or other special educational needs. The Act states that the Minister will consult with persons who have a special interest in or experience of the education of students with special needs, in carrying out his /her functions. The support services which the Minister can provide for schools and for students with special educational needs and their parents include assessment, psychological, guidance and counselling services; technical aid and equipment; adaptations to buildings to facilitate access and transport; speech therapy; early childhood and continuing education; and transport. Schools will be required to use their resources to ensure that the educational needs of students with disabilities or other special educational needs are identified and provided for.
Boards of Management of schools will be required to publish the policy of the school concerning admission to and participation by students with disabilities or other special educational needs. they will be required to use the resources provided to make reasonable provision and accommodation for students with disabilities or others special educational needs.
The School Plan will state the measures that the school proposes to take to achieve equality of access and participation in the school by students with disabilities or other special educational needs. The Minister may make regulations relating to access to schools and centres for education by students with disabilities or other special educational needs.
The Act states that the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) will include persons who have a special interest in, or experience of, the education of students with disabilities or other special educational needs. The Act specifies that the NCCA will advise the Minister on the requirements, as regards curriculum and syllabuses, of students with a disability or other special educational need.
For further information on the Education Act, please visit the website of the Department of Education and Science at http://www.irlgov.ie/educ/