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Education

7-12

years

old

What does this mean?

It’s your right to go to school and get a good education for free.

It’s your right to get a good quality education.

In Ireland, you have to get an education until you are sixteen, or you have finished three years of secondary school.

If you have a disability, it’s your right to be supported so that you can get your education.

Schools should be built well and teachers should be trained to support all students.

It’s your right that your education should help you use your talents and abilities.

Education shouldn’t just help you learn subjects like Maths and English.

It should help you live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.

School is free for every primary and secondary school student in Ireland. However, there are still things that your parents have to buy, like your uniform and books, that makes school more expensive for lots of families.

Your parents can home school you if they like, but the Government needs to make sure you get “a minimum standard of education”. This means they will support and guide your parents to make sure you get the best education you can when you are at home.

Molly’s story

Hey, I’m Molly and I represent fifth class on my student council. We noticed that our schoolbooks were really expensive every year so we organised a campaign and asked our teachers to set up a book rental scheme instead, so students could rent their books for cheaper. We also wrote a letter to the Government to ask for more support to buy schoolbooks, so that we can all get our right to education.

Find out what you can do when you’re not getting your rights.