MINISTER FOR Education Batt O’Keeffe is under increasing pressure to rescind Budget cuts imposed on Protestant schools. The intervention of Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, in which he praised the contribution made by the sector in advancing pluralism, has had a significant impact. His remarks have helped to transform the debate; rather than another lobby trying to overturn a harsh budgetary measure, there is a wider understanding that Protestant schools are fighting to preserve a proud tradition.
This controversy arises from the abolition in the Budget of a series of ancillary supports for Protestant schools. The move which cut payments for caretaker, secretarial and other support staff will yield savings of about €2.8 million in a full year. Protestant schools maintain this will inflict real hardship on many of their number. Moreover, they say it breaks an honourable tradition dating back to 1967 when the Government allowed fee-paying Protestant schools to enter the free education system in recognition of their special role and the difficulty they faced in catering for a dispersed population.
The 21 Protestant fee-paying schools have a very distinct ethos. Some in the Dublin area are among the best resourced in the second-level sector. But most rural boarding schools are providing a Protestant education for a scattered cohort of pupils. Many Protestant parents have no alternative but to send their children to these boarding schools if they want them educated in their own faith. And many pupils do not conform to the simplistic stereotype of privilege and affluence. A significant minority are in receipt of support through the Protestant Block Grant, distributed among families in real financial need.
Mr O’Keeffe told the Dáil this week that any concession to Protestant schools on the ancillary grant would be unconstitutional and discriminatory on the basis of (unpublished) advice from the Attorney General. In a radio interview, he said this was the legal advice for years. But he was less forthcoming on why, in these circumstances, support was left in place for over 40 years.
Protestant schools in rural areas are in a different position to larger Dublin schools. A compromise, in which a new system of targeted funding is used to help the schools most in need, must be possible. There are wider issues here than budgetary arithmetic. As Dr Martin put it, there is a public interest in guaranteeing the right of the Protestant community to an education of its choice.