Girl enrols at all-boys school

A CORK teenager made history in her area yesterday by being the first girl to enrol at her local all-boys post-primary school.

Meagan Kavanagh (13) started her education in Nagle Community College in Mahon, Blackrock, Co Cork, after a battle by her parents to allow her attend the school.

Meagan had initially been refused entry to the school, but her mother appealed to the Department of Education under section 29 of the Education Act, 1998, which allows the department to force a school to enrol a pupil.

The appeal was upheld because the college’s enrolment policy did not explicitly state that it was a boys-only school.

However, the decision has not opened up the school to other girls in the area. City of Cork VEC, which runs the school, said the college was told by the department to change its enrolment policy so that it is clear that it enrols boys only.

Meagan’s mother, Gillian Lynch, said the family stood over their decision not to send her out of her own area to attend a girls school.

“She’s happy and I’m happy and she’s very content. She’s with her friends that she’s been educated with the last eight years.”

Speaking last night on TV3 News, she said the school had been very accommodating. “They have given her a key for her own bathroom, she has her own changing room, and she’s happy to be with the boys that she’s been with all through the years.”