Catholic ethos in North's schools vital - cardinal

CATHOLIC BISHOPS and educationalists would strive to uphold “in all circumstances” the rights of parents to have schools that…

CATHOLIC BISHOPS and educationalists would strive to uphold “in all circumstances” the rights of parents to have schools that offered a Catholic ethos, Catholic primate Cardinal Seán Brady has told the Northern Assembly’s education committee.

Cardinal Brady, in defending the concept of faith schools, said at Stormont yesterday that the provision of a diverse range of schools was the mark of a mature, tolerant and reconciled society. And it was one which he believed society aspired to in Northern Ireland.

Cardinal Brady was joined by fellow Northern bishops, Dr Patrick Walsh and Dr Donal McKeown, as members of the Northern Ireland Commission for Catholic Education, to express concerns about an overhaul of the educational system that the North’s Minister for Education, Caitríona Ruane, is proposing. Commission members also present were Sr Eithne Woulfe and legal adviser John Gordon.

During a question and answer session with the education committee, Bishop McKeown said the commission was not “looking for some sort of black and white control” but rather was seeking a balance where all the education stakeholders could have their rights asserted.

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“We are not looking for Stalinist, centralist control. We are looking to maximise how devolved responsibility can be exercised in the interests of pupils,” he said.

Cardinal Brady expressed considerable concern that the department’s planned new Education and Skills Authority (ESA) would undermine the ability of schools’ trustees and boards of governors to run Catholic schools.

He said that one clause in the Minister’s draft education Bill making the ESA the employer of all staff in all schools was unacceptable. “This is a fundamental impediment to the ability of owners/trustees to exercise their right and duty to promote and safeguard the ethos and defining character of a school. To exercise our duties as trustees adequately we require that the board of governors of each school shall be the legal employer of all staff in the school,” he added.

“Let me state very clearly that any right we seek to have respected, or any provision or resource we seek for Catholic schools, we seek for each and every provider of education in Northern Ireland,” said Cardinal Brady.

The Catholic primate said he was conscious that some people believed the Catholic education sector was advantaged over other sectors but this was historically incurred. “As a matter of fact until relatively recently, the Catholic sector received less support from the state than any other sector,” he said.

“It is true, however, that when other sectors transferred their ownership of schools to the state, the Catholic community maintained ownership. This took place at considerable financial cost to the Catholic community and to our Catholic parishes in particular. However, this was a cost which generations of Catholics were willing to bear to guarantee the ethos of their schools and the right of parents to have such schools,” he added.

“As the trustees of Catholic schools in Northern Ireland, responsibility for ensuring the continuation of that right now falls to us.

“It is a right which we will strive to uphold in all circumstances,” said Cardinal Brady.

A spokesman for Ms Ruane said the commission’s suggestion that individual boards of governors, rather than the ESA should be the formal employers of staff would depart from the arrangements in the education Bill. It would also depart from the current arrangements for Catholic maintained schools, in which teachers are employed by the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools, and non-teaching staff are employed by the North’s education and library boards.

“It is not clear from the submission why the commission feels that only individual school employers can safeguard the ethos of Catholic schools, particularly when at present the vast majority of Catholic schools are part of collective employment arrangements,” he added.

Gerry Moriarty

Gerry Moriarty

Gerry Moriarty is the former Northern editor of The Irish Times