Madam, – A point that has not been made clear in the debate about the sudden withdrawal by the Minister for Education of grants and the increase in pupil- teacher ratio applying to Protestant secondary schools is that a significant number of pupils attending Dublin schools are in receipt of a means-tested grant (block grant) or other assistance.
The King’s Hospital, referred to by Jonathan Arlow (October 24th), has approaching 10 per cent of its pupils on the maximum grant, which means that their parents are on the equivalent of social welfare, and 35 per cent are on some level of grant or other assistance. It is quite misleading to describe these schools as elitist, and putting them on a par with Catholic fee-paying schools is not warranted.
The other issue is that of choice. A Catholic child has a choice of three types of schools, a comprehensive (free) school, a free voluntary school (many of which levy significant contributions on parents) and a fee-paying school. A Protestant child has only one choice, a Protestant secondary school. This applies not only to rural areas but to all bar three areas of the greater Dublin area. The Minister’s actions will force up fees at these schools, putting them beyond the reach of many Protestant parents, thereby depriving them of their only choice. This is not the action of a Government that claims to foster a pluralist society. – Yours, etc,