Campaign launched to fight Bill on church in education

A NEW campaign has been launched to oppose the plans of the Minister for Education to give legal backing to the churches' role in education.

The campaign is being led by the Campaign to Separate Church and State, with support from members of the Women's Political Association and Educate Together, the umbrella body for multi denominational schools.

It was launched at a meeting in Dublin last Thursday attended by more than 150 people, at which individual teachers and members of the National Parents' Council also voiced opposition to Ms Breathnach's proposals.

Mr David Alvey, chairman of the CSCS, described the forthcoming Education Bill as "an affront to Irish democracy" which if passed into law, would represent "a triumph for sectarian segregation".

Mr Alvey said the Bill would allow the religious authorities to block the appointment of teachers on the grounds of their religious affiliation. Whenever a bishop of either denomination indicated that an appointment would "substantially prejudice" the ethos of a school, the appointment would have to be rescinded by the board of management.

He criticised a memorandum to the Bill which states that the owners of denominational schools have the right to ensure that there is available to the school a cadre of staff which shares the religious and moral beliefs of the owners and parents.

"This may already be common practice, but its inclusion in an important piece of legislation will give added legitimacy to what is a sectarian practice," he said.

Ms Karen Higgins of the Women's Political Association called for inclusiveness in education rather than exclusiveness. Schools should be either multi denominational or non denominational.

However, a spokesman for the Minister defended Ms Breathnach's legislative plans. He argued that at present, teachers who feel they have been discriminated against on grounds of religion have no legal right to challenge an appointment.

The forthcoming Employment Equality Bill would give teachers this right, "subject to the necessary constitutional constraints".

The Constitution recognised the right of schools to have a denominational character. "Any Bill which does not recognise the Constitutional right of denominational schools to maintain their ethos will be struck down," he said. Any Bill must strike a reasonable and necessary balance between the right of a worker to equal treatment and the right of a school to maintain its ethos.