Committee on the Rights of the Child supports the establishment of non-denominational and multi-denominational schools

This Autumn, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended to the Irish State that it promotes the establishment of non-denominational and multi-denominational schools. This formal recommendation re-enforced the recommendation of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) that was issued last year.

It is regrettable that the Irish government persists in ignoring these recommendations. Whilst the Minister of Education and Science attempted to negate the essence of the CERD recommendation last year by stating in the Dail that ”the United Nations ... did not issue a judgment imposing an obligation on the Irish State to promote the establishment of multi-denominational schools”, it is now open to question what the response will be to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. It is clear that this committee considered the Irish State’s case, rejected it and decided to strongly underlined the original recommendation.

The full text of the recommendation is as follows:

60. The Committee reiterates the concern raised by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD/C/IRL/CO/2) that non-denominational or multi-denominational schools represent less than 1 per cent of the total number of primary education facilities.

61. The Committee encourages the State party to take fully into consideration the recommendations made by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD/C/IRL/2, para 18) which encourages the promotion of the establishment of non-denominational or multi-denominational schools and to amend the existing legislative framework to eliminate discrimination in school admissions.

 

Ireland has been a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child since 1990 and ratified it “without reservation” in 1992. This year’s review is the second such review.

The first review in 1998 was embarrassing for the government and stimulated a series of actions. These included the introduction of a range of legislation and the establishment of the National Children’s Office and the National Children’s Advisory Council in 2001, the appointment of an Ombudsman for Children in 2004 and the establishment of the Office of Minster for Children in 2005. These actions were commented on favourably be the UN Committee during this year’s review.

For this second review, the government delegation was led by Minister Brian Lenihan, accompanied by a large team of civil servants from a range of government departments. The hearings in Geneva took place over two days. In the months beforehand, the Committee had invited submissions from non-governmental organisations. Educate Together – as a member of the Children’s Rights Alliance (CRA ) - had participated in the drawing up of the CRA’s submission. Educate Together’s case was also put forward in the Irish Human Rights Commission’s submission (IHRC).

Educate Together’s case is also being considered by the Council of Europe. For more information, contact: [email protected]

Further information

pdf: http://www.educatetogether.ie/newsletters/ETEN0604.htm

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