SOME immigrant secondary school students may be asked to leave State schools and instead apply to fee-paying private schools, Metro Eireann has learned.
The situation concerns the school-going children of student visa holders, following the tightening of regulations by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform in regards to their access to free education.
“We are very concerned about a clampdown by the Department of Justice on regulations around the education of some families in the State,” one source within the education system told Metro Eireann. “We are particularly worried that some of our students are being targeted as they are from Mauritius, and that country has no consulate or official representation in Ireland.”
Another teacher elaborated: “Mauritian students in particular are being targeted. Parents, when they go to renew their student visas, are being asked by immigration officials ‘Where is your child going to school?’ If the parent cannot provide proof of fees paid, then the visa will not be reissued
“There are students who have had to move school to fee-paying schools because of this rule in the visa application. Parents are desperate. The age [when the rule comes into effect] is 16, which seems arbitrary. Why not 12 or 18?”
One school principal told Metro Eireann there is a reported ‘scam’ in Mauritius to gain parents student visas in Ireland for the express purpose of trying to get an education for their whole family here.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education responded by insisting that the rules referred to are already in place in relation to visa applications, and that their implementation would be down to individual schools.
The spokesperson explained that children of student visa holders are generally admitted to the State on the basis that they attend fee-paying schools, “on the basis that to do otherwise would give rise to additional demands on the State”.
However, the spokesperson also pointed out that once they are in the State, first and second level schools are precluded from discriminating on grounds of nationality under the Equal Status Act.
Meanwhile, a Department of Justice spokesperson commented: “The education of minors in this State is primarily a matter for the Department of Education and Science. However, officials from the Department of Justice will be meeting with officials from the Department of Education and Science in the coming days and this matter will be added to the agenda.”
Caroline Fahey, project worker with the Community Links Project at the Jesuit Refugee Service, confirmed that she is aware of the situation and that the rules are causing confusion: “There has been concern about enquiries from schools that some of their students may not be entitled to remain in second level school after the age of 16. It is correct. The Department of Justice would say that it has always been the case, but it is worrying that now there are moves to implement the rule.
“People are not aware of this situation. We feel that to follow through with this may be in contravention of the UN Rights of the Child.”
Fahey admitted, however, that there are some migrants who might use the system to their advantage.
“The other side of the story is that there are people who will use student visas in order to try to access free education, but the situation needs to be cleared up,” she said.
