ANALYSIS:Patronage of many schools should change but social streaming must be avoided, writes PATSY McGARRY,Religious Affairs Correspondent
AS WITH peace on the Lake Isle of Inishfree, change where primary school patronage is concerned in Ireland will come “dropping slow”. It may also not be as radical as is assumed.
It is estimated, for instance, that as many as half of the 3,165 primary schools (not including special schools) in the State are small rural schools where it is unlikely there will be any great demand for change.
That said, 2,888 schools in the State have Catholic patronage and it is recognised that this 91 per cent control is no longer a fair reflection of Irish society.
This is highlighted in figures for six towns and parts of Dublin published by the Department of Education yesterday. Of the towns concerned there are only Catholic primary shools available in Killarney and Tramore, while 14 of the 15 primary schools in Athlone are Catholic-run, five out of six in Birr, 10 out of 11 in Dublin’s Whitehall, and six out of eight primary schools in Arklow.
It will surprise many that in “pagan” Dublin 4, seven out of the nine primary schools are Catholic-run while in one of the more diverse parts of the city, Dublin 6 and 8 postal districts, 17 of the 26 primary schools are Catholic-run. In Portmarnock/ Malahide six of the seven primary schools are Catholic-run.
And these 10 towns/areas are just a sample of a total of 43 in the State where change is identified by the department as necessary to allow for choice.
The Catholic Church has been candid in recognising the need for change and has made it clear that where the parents want it to do so, it will step aside in favour of the parents’ patron of choice. In its 2007 document Catholic Primary Schools, A Policy for Provision into the Future, the bishops stated that Irish society was going through accelerated change.
“The growth in material prosperity, the questioning of traditional values and the influx of people to Ireland has introduced a complexity to education that is a challenge for both Church and State,” it said.
It added that “as the Catholic Church accepts that there should be choice and diversity within a national education system, it believes that parents who desire schools under different patronage should, where possible, be facilitated in accessing them.”
Catholic bishops met then minister for education Batt O’Keeffe and his officials last November at which it was agreed, at the bishops’ request, that the department would undertake the research resulting in yesterday’s document.
The department firmly landed the ball back in the bishops’ court yesterday, saying “the Catholic Church authorities may now wish to identify some areas to trial the modalities by which the number of Catholic schools could be reduced and thus releasing some schools for other patrons”.
However, through Fr Michael Drumm, executive chairman of the Catholic Schools Partnership Council, the church quickly returned the ball to the department’s court with a call for a further “qualitative” study by the State of what the parents really want in relevant areas.
There is deep annoyance on the Catholic side at a portrayal of its schools as being somehow sectarian. In that same 2007 document the church noted: “the Catholic school welcomes diversity and strives for inclusivity. It is open to people of other denominations and other faiths, welcomes them . . . and respects their beliefs . . .”
Anyone familiar with Irish education knows this to be the case, with children of all creeds accepted without demur. There is also a concern that schools under new patronage may lead to more social division. Many secular schools today cater to children of the better-off and to the exclusion of more marginalised groups in society such as Travellers.
It would be tragic should more plurality in education patronage contribute to social streaming.