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María Giovanna and Maria Cristianna Pistea Rodrigues are facing their fourth year without a school place. Their parents, Cristian Pistea and Ana Carolina Rodrigues Pimentel, have been trying to secure them primary school places in the greater Dublin area since 2024, but have been consistently unsuccessful despite applying to numerous schools.
Girls’ parents Cristian Pistea and Ana Carolina Rodrigues Pimentel have been trying since 2024 to secure places at any school Twin sisters Maria Giovanna and Maria Cristianna Pistea Rodrigues are both awaiting places in primary school, despite having turned seven in July.
Photograph: Enda O'Dowd“Big school, big school, big school,” has been the refrain echoing around the Pistea Rodrigues home in Lucan, Co Dublin, for the last month. Twin sisters Maria Giovanna and Maria Cristianna Pistea Rodrigues, who are aged seven, are excited to be starting on the next stage in their lives. Their father Cristian Pistea, and mother Ana Carolina Rodrigues Pimentel, have tried and failed to get them places in any school for three years in a row now.
Good cheer breaks out on Today with David McCullagh. Should we panic? Rathmines and Rathgar become film set for An Cailín Ciúin director Colm BairéadCristian, who is originally from Romania, works as a chef in a city-centre restaurant, while Ana Carolina, who is from Brazil, works in the home. They have been in Ireland since 2014 and are Irish citizens.
Their search for school places began in 2024, when they applied to more than 10 schools within a 30-minute drive of their house. They did not secure any offers, but because the girls were just four years old at that point, they didn’t worry too much. The following year, they expanded their applications to more schools, up to 15 – and received just one offer, for only one of the girls.
“How can you choose which of your children will receive an education and which not? How can you even ask me to do that? ” Cristian asks. Cristian Pistea and his wife Ana Carolina Rodrigues Pimentel with their twin daughters Maria Giovanna and Maria Cristianna Pistea Rodrigues.
Photograph: Enda O'Dowd When they did not get a second offer for their other daughter, they held them back again until this year. However, the school year has now started, and the couple have heard nothing back from the NCSE or any school about places for their twins.
“I don’t want to fight, I don’t want to do it this way. I know they have a stressful job, but I have no choice now. This is a desperate call for help,” Cristian says. For the girls, who believe they are starting school this year, Cristian is worried about not delivering on the promise he made to them.
“I don’t even want to imagine that they will not get a place in school this year. I can’t even think about that. ” There are almost 4,000 special classes across primary and post-primary schools in the Republic. These are designed for children with special educational needs, including autism, and have a lower student-to-teacher ratio than mainstream classes.
Many schools with special classes have been oversubscribed for many years as they consistently have more applicants than places.
'How can you choose which of your children will receive an education and which not? How can you even ask me to do that?
' Cristian Pistea asks. Photograph: Enda O'Dowd When asked what would be done for the twin girls in Lucan, the NCSE said it did not comment on individual cases and instead outlined processes for placement in special classes.
“The NCSE, through its network of Special Educational Needs Organisers and regional teams, works closely with families, schools and patron bodies to identify and secure appropriate educational placements for children with special educational needs. “Our network of local SENOs continues to engage with families who seek such placements. In situations where local personnel have been engaging with parents in respect of securing a placement and the parent awaits further contact, this will be addressed as a matter of priority.
“We continue to encourage any parent or guardian seeking assistance or advice regarding educational placements to contact their SENO,” the NCSE said. Irish pro-Palestine group reports Central Bank governor to International Criminal CourtIrish woman named as Spanish police await postmortems on couple found dead in hot tubIrish citizens missing in Nepal appear on list of unaccounted for tourists after flash floodCost of college: How much can you expect to pay for third-level education in Ireland?
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