ABSTRACT While Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights articulates a comprehensive right to education, truly accessible education remains elusive in many countries. This article considers the accessibility of education in Ireland in law, policy and practice, drawing on semi-structured interviews with politicians, educators, and representatives of various relevant interest groups. The Irish education system, once described as a ‘Church-State co-operative’, has historically been controlled by the Catholic Church, but in recent times has been obliged to adapt in order to cater for an increasingly ethnically and culturally diverse school population. The article concludes that a variety of exclusionary practices have facilitated the establishment of a de facto two-tiered education system in Ireland, with marginalised groups such as asylum-seekers; religious minorities; and the indigenous Traveller community particularly disadvantaged. A recent process of legislative reform addresses some key issues, such as admission policies, which distinguish prospective students on the basis of religion, past pupil parents, and when their name was placed on the enrolment list. However, it remains to be seen whether these reforms will significantly enhance access in practice.

中文翻译：

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爱尔兰的教育：所有人都可以不受歧视地接受教育？

摘要 虽然《经济、社会、文化权利国际公约》第 13 条阐明了全面的受教育权，但在许多国家，真正可及的教育仍然遥不可及。本文通过对政治家、教育工作者和各种相关利益集团代表的半结构化访谈，从法律、政策和实践方面考虑爱尔兰教育的可及性。爱尔兰教育系统曾被描述为“教会国家合作社”，历史上一直由天主教会控制，但最近不得不进行调整，以迎合种族和文化日益多样化的学校人口。文章的结论是，各种排斥性做法促进了爱尔兰事实上的两级教育体系的建立，与边缘化群体，如寻求庇护者；宗教少数群体；土著旅行者社区尤其处于不利地位。最近的立法改革进程解决了一些关键问题，例如录取政策，根据宗教、过去的学生父母以及他们的名字何时列入入学名单来区分准学生。然而，这些改革是否会在实践中显着提高准入率还有待观察。