Catholic patrons are open to changing the religious ethos of the national schools they control but the choice will ultimately be for the patrons, the Minister for Education said.
On Tuesday, a large Government-commissioned survey of parents indicating substantial support for changes in the ethos of schools was published with 40 per cent of parents indicating they would like to see such a move in the school attended by their children.
The school-by-school results, which are likely to show a majority in favour in a significant number of locations, are due to be sent to schools next month after which, Hildegarde Naughton said at the Irish National Teachers Organisation on Tuesday, the department would facilitate local engagement on the issue.
“I think this is a real opportunity for schools now to engage with parents and guardians locally, to see what do they want in relation to their local primary school, around ethos, around coeducation, for example,” she said.
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“And there is a lot of interest out there among patrons, among the bishops ... they recognise that in certain schools across the country, there is an appetite for change here around the ethos of schools.
“I don’t want to speak for the bishops, but our patrons across the country recognise that there are different preferences among parents across the country. This is a way of really giving that information to the school.”
The intention is not to put parents in a position to force the hand of patrons or to trigger any process for bringing about change regardless of the size of a majority in favour of it, she said.
“I think it’s really important,” she said, “when we’re looking at change, that it’s evidence-based, that school authorities or the patron can hear what that preference of parents or guardians is. But ultimately, yes, it is the patron, I suppose, that will have the ultimate say”.
Responding, INTO general secretary John Boyle suggested the survey results signalled a likely end for the remainder of the single-sex primary schools given the high levels of support indicated in the survey for a switch to coeducation among the affected parents.
On denominational education, he expressed surprise at the suggestion patrons would retain a veto on change and said the pace of change needs to be accelerated.
“Over 90 per cent of the schools are denominational in a pluralist Ireland, and that should be changing much faster,” he said. “We would expect our members who are teaching children would want the system to reflect the pluralist society that they’re working in, so they’ll have a say in all this too and we want each school to get its own report.”
Commenting on the survey results, meanwhile, Educate Together chief executive Emer Nowlan said the demand for the schools had grown substantially in recent years and “these results confirm that current school provision is completely out of step.
“We look forward to the release of school-level survey data, so that these results can be acted on. We know that there are many schools around the country where there is a clear preference for Educate Together among a majority of parents and staff.
“We look forward to engaging with those schools to support them through the transfer process.”
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