The post-primary or second-level education caters for students aged 12 to 18 years. Attendance at school is compulsory for students aged under 16. Most children start in post-primary school at the age of 12 or 13. They must be at least 12 years of age on 1 January in the year they start second-level education in order to be registered in a post-primary school. There are different types of post-primary school.
Voluntary secondary schools are privately owned and managed. They are under the trusteeship of religious communities, boards of governors or individuals. The national organisation representing the boards of management of these schools is the Joint Managerial Body (www.jmb.ie) .
Vocational schools and community colleges are owned by the local Education and Training Board (ETB). The boards of management for these schools are sub-committees of the ETB. ETB schools and community colleges are largely funded by the Department of Education. The national representative body for the Education and Training Boards is the ETBI (https://www.etbi.ie/)
Community and comprehensive schools were established in the 1960s in order to provide a broad curriculum for all of the young people in a community. Many of these schools were established as the result of the amalgamation of voluntary secondary and vocational schools. They are managed by boards of management which are representative of local interests. The schools are financed entirely by the Department of Education. The representative body for these schools is the Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools (https://www.accs.ie/).
Educate Together schools are state-funded and teach the National Curriculum. They are non-fee-paying schools and are open to students of all backgrounds. They are co-educational and have no school uniforms.
Educate Together is the patron body of the growing network of equality-based primary and second-level schools in Ireland. The organisation became a company limited by guarantee in 1998 and has charitable status. It has a national office which provides representative and support services to existing schools and campaign groups. The Board of Directors of the organisation work in a voluntary capacity. (https://www.educatetogether.ie/)
Students with special educational needs may be in ordinary classes in mainstream post-primary schools or in special classes in these schools. They may get help from special education teachers and care support from special needs assistants (SNAs).
There are special schools throughout the country for students with general learning disabilities. These schools provide education for students from five to 18 years who have a general learning disability at a mild or moderate level. In addition, there are post-primary schools for visually impaired and hearing impaired students in Dublin. These schools cater for both day students and boarders. There is a small number of schools for students with physical disabilities and a small number of special schools for students who have behavioural and emotional difficulties.
These are schools within hospitals that are funded through the Department of Education. Each hospital arranges their school day according to the needs of the students in their care. The children can be taught in a classroom setting or at their bed side.
Educational services are available in all prisons and are provided in partnership with a range of educational agencies including the Education Training Boards (ETBs), Public Library Services, the Open University and the Arts Council. The Department of Education provides an allocation of 220 whole-time teacher equivalents.
Literacy, numeracy and general basic education provision is the priority and broad programmes of education are made available which generally follow an adult education approach. Junior and Leaving Certificate courses are available. QQI accreditation is widely used by the ETBs.
An Irish-medium school or ‘gaelcholáiste’ is a post-primary school in which everything is done through Irish, and which uses the immersion education method. Irish-medium schools are funded by the State under the same conditions as other schools, and follow the standard post-primary school curriculum. Irish-medium post-primary schools are run by various school patrons. The patron is the authority in charge of school management.
There are a number of secondary schools on islands off the west coast of Ireland (Galway, Mayo and Donegal). They are all in Gaeltacht areas and predominantly, although not exclusively, teach through the medium of Irish.
Launched in 2005 by the Department of Education, Delivering Equality of Opportunity In Schools (DEIS) is an initiative of the Department of Education aimed at lessening educational disadvantage and bringing about social inclusion in primary and second level education. Traditionally, few students from these schools go on to third level education. Also, children from DEIS schools tend to leave school earlier and do less well academically than students from other schools. Financial assistance and eligibility for various government sponsored programmes (school meals programme and school completion programme for example) are key elements of the DEIS programme.
The Department of Education Website provides a description of state-funded schools in a variety of contexts. Visit: https://www.education.ie/en/The-Education-System/Post-Primary/ for further information.
Statistical Reports are published by the CSO, OECD and other organisations regularly that examine trends in Post-Primary schools: https://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Statistics/Statistical-Reports/statistical-bulletin-2020-overview-of-education-1999-2019.pdf
DEIS: https://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/DEIS-Delivering-Equality-of-Opportunity-in-Schools-/FAQs.html
Gaelcholáiste agus Gaeltachta: https://gaeloideachas.ie/i-am-a-parent-pupil/post-primary-schools/
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) was set up to improve the delivery of education services to persons with special educational needs arising from disabilities with particular emphasis on children. See https://ncse.ie/
