Heavy Schoolbags :
Following many years of highlighting this issue by Compass and our associated groups The National Parents Council Post Primary ( NPCpp ) were invited to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs to voice the concerns that many parents have regarding the weight of school bags , especially of post primary students . We received many complaints for parents on the issue of the weight of school bags over the years and it something that the NPCpp has been continually highlighting .
Internationally , it is acknowledged that heavy school bags could lead to serious long-term problems , including chronic back pain . Furthermore , guidelines ’ indicate that children should never carry a bag that weighs more than 15 % of their body weight . In the US , the limit of school bag weights is recommended by The Chiropractic Association in US is 10 - 20 % of students ’ body weight .
Parents , The State , School management , Principals , and Teachers all have a shared duty of care to our students ’ wellbeing , and we hope that this is the beginning of meaningful engagement in a process which will bring agreed implementable recommendations forward .
Schools Admissions Policy :
On 16th January 2017 the Minister for Education and Skills , Richard Bruton , announced his intention to reform the schools admissions system in relation to the role that religion can play in the process . Although the intention of the Minister is to make changes in respect to the primary schools system in the first instance , further actions will be considered at the post primary level in the future . Therefore it is important for us as parents to have our voices heard . The Minister suggested four possible approaches :
1 . Catchment Area This approach would prohibit religious schools from giving preference to children of their own religion who live outside the catchment area ahead of non-religious children or children of other religions who live inside the catchment area .
2 . Nearest School Rule This approach would allow religious schools to give preference to a religious child only where it is that
child ’ s nearest school of that particular religion .
3 . Quota System This approach would allow a religious school give preference to children of its own religion in respect to only a certain proportion of places , meaning that the remaining places would be allocated based on other admission criteria .
4 . Outright Prohibition This approach would prohibit religious primary schools using religion as a factor in admissions . Places would be allocated based on other factors .
Consultation by the DES is currently being undertaken through the NPCpp and Compass executive is in the process of consultation with all relevant constituents in relation to this matter to ensure that our voice is heard and our views recognised and taken account of . An additional 4 week extension has been granted for the consultation period and the DES now indicate 20 th March as the new deadline .
European General Data Protection Regulation ( GDPR ) : The GDPR is a very comprehensive piece of data protection legislation which will come into effect from 25 May 2018 . It aims to strengthen people ' s rights , taking account of the digital age . It contains a range of new and enhanced provisions including - REGULATION ( EU ) 2016 / 679 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data , and repealing Directive 95 / 46 / EC ( General Data Protection Regulation ) Article 8 which sets the age under which children require parental consent to sign up to digital services involving the collection / processing of their personal data at 16 .
However , under the Regulation , it is open to Member States to introduce national legislation setting this limit at any age between 13 and 16 . The Department of Justice and Equality has lead legislative responsibility in the data protection area and will be undertaking a public consultation on this and other issues arising from the implementation of the GDPR in due course . Consultation is currently in progress and Compass as part of NPCpp has been asked for a view .