THE Minister for Education has assured the Church of Ireland that plans to revamp the composition of primary school boards of management will not be announced without its agreement.
Ms Breathnach was responding to fears expressed by the Church of Ireland that the Minister had already decided to implement a new board structure which would give the religious trustees of primary schools two out of eight seats, instead of the majority they currently hold.
In a statement, the Minister confirmed that the long running discussions between parent and teacher organisations on one side and Catholic and Church of Ireland school managers on the other were at an advanced stage, but were not yet concluded.
No formal announcement on their conclusion would be made until all partners to the talks had agreed on the content and format of the announcement, she said.
Ms Breathnach also confirmed that legislation on school governance was being prepared. This would be based on provisions outlined in the White Paper, which proposes that boards of management be established in all schools at both first and second level
Mr David Meredith, of the Church of Ireland's education board, warned yesterday that it would "seriously consider" pulling out of the talks unless the future of Church of Ireland schools was guaranteed.
