peter
“My daughter is two and a half. She’s just like any other kid of her age, a cheeky monkey that we love to bits. I’m worried that she won’t be treated like any other kid when we try to get her into our local school. Most other kids in our area are baptised so they’ll probably get into the school ahead of our little girl. Like most schools, the closest school to us is a Catholic school. I’ve put her name down for school’s all over the city because I’m so worried she won’t get in to the one that’s 500m down the road. I think it’s really unfair. Like everyone else in our area, our taxes go towards paying salaries etc. at that school but because our little girl’s not baptised, we get pushed down the list for admissions behind everyone else. Some people say, why don’t you just baptise her. For me, getting a school place is no reason to baptise a child and would be so disrespectful to those who take their beliefs seriously.
I really respect everyone’s right to be religious if they want to be and to have their kids educated whatever way they want. But if it’s public money that’s being spent on running schools, I wish our beliefs could be respected too”
This story was highlighted by EQUATE
<EQUATE is a children’s rights organisation advocating for substantial change in how primary and secondary education is delivered in Ireland.
For more information about their campaign & work visit www.equateireland.ie >