'Child distraught' shared online application for all Laois secondary schools proposed

A Laois councillor has suggested a clever way for Laois families and schools to avoid stress, work and anxiety inducing delays for children applying for a secondary school.

Cllr Tommy Mulligan of the Portlaoise Municipal District is suggesting an online application portal for all 10 Laois secondary schools to share.

There are now ten mainstream Laois secondary schools taking in about 1,000 first years each year; St Mary’s CBS, Scoil Chríost Rí, Coláiste Iosagáin, Portlaoise College, Dunamase College, Heywood CS, Mountmellick CS, Clonaslee College, St Fergal’s Rathdowney and Mountrath CS. 

The current system is causing anxiety for children, Cllr Mulligan said, sharing one example to the Laois County Council February meeting.

"I was asked to help a family whose child didn't get their first round offer. They got a second offer but they got it seven weeks later.

"The child was distraught. He is living near the school. He became withdrawn from his circle of friends. It was a stressful time for everyone. All his peers were looking forward to secondary school, but this child didn't know where he was going. It was a tough time. It should be avoided," Cllr Mulligan said.

He explained the system, before pitching his solution.

"You make an application online to a school by a certain date. You get a first round offer two to three weeks later. Then a second round offer, then a third round. It takes seven to eight weeks in a lot of schools.

"People apply to multiple schools, leading to oversubscription. Schools have to filter through that, and wait for offers to be refused or accepted. Some people only apply to one school, and they don't get any place. There's got to be a better way of doing this," he said.

Cllr Mulligan instead suggests one platform, with each school retaining their own admissions policy, and students expressing their preferred school choices.

"You will have an instant generation of a next round offer. There would be a reduction of administration work for schools. We've only ten secondary schools in Laois. On behalf of all students who find it stressful, we can make it more student and parent friendly.

"There is a similar thing in Limerick where 17 schools have a common application portal. It has worked, we should try it," he said.

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Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley seconded his motion tabled to the council meeting, which asks Laois County Council to ask Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton - who recently visited Portlaoise schools - requesting a "centralised, digital secondary school enrolment portal to be piloted in Laois".

"It's a fantastic idea. I'm on the Laois Offaly ETB. Not a summer goes by but several members of the public contact me stressed to the 9's that their child has no place, asking for help. This policy where students and parents apply to all schools has slowed everything down because schools have to weed some out. This would be brilliant to mirror something similar to third level," Cllr Dwane Stanley said.

Cllr Paddy Buggy sits on a school board too and said "applications for multiple schools are clogging up the whole system".

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"It's the child we have to think about, please god they will be able to stay with their pals," he said.

Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald had good news. She said that there is already a pilot portal underway in Ireland for five towns.

"Athenry, Greystones, Cellbridge, Clonakilty and Tullamore. It should be the same for every town in Ireland. If that pilot is a success I think they envisage rolling it out in every town in Ireland," she said.

"I'd bring the whole county into it as well," Cllr Mulligan added.