THE future of some Protestant post primary schools was threatened by impending changes in the education system, the Bishop of Limerick and Killaloe, Right Rev Edward Darling, told the synod. A meeting would be held next week with the Minister for Education on the issue.
The changes in the post primary curriculum outlined in the White Paper on Education with the inclusion of topics such as social, personal and health education, civics and political and religious education as examination subjects, were predicated on the existence of schools large enough to accommodate these changes.
The future optimum size, according to the White Paper, was 500 pupils and it was clearly anticipated that smaller schools would be required to amalgamate. Protestant post primary schools had already rationalised and, given the distances between most secondary schools, it was difficult to see how any further amalgamations could take place, Bishop Darling said.
"While most of our schools are large enough to be able to offer the broader curriculum being provided, we've got to admit that some are not. What then is to be their future? That is a question to which we must turn our attention, and urgently".
Bishop Darling attributed the survival of the block grant system to the Church's Secondary Education Committee (SEC). For 1996/97 the SEC intended to increase its grant levels by about 10 cent.
Of course, we add our voice to those voices in the free scheme asking for a rise in the rate of", grants. But our schools, too, must recognise their responsibility for the growing gap between fees and grants, and their responsibility to the Protestant community for which they exist.
"The SEC has noted with some alarm the decreasing proportion of pupils in Protestant secondary schools who are in receipt of, or even applying for, grants. There are many possible explanations for this, one of which could be that some Protestant parents are opting to send their children to other schools.
"... we would make an earnest appeal to Protestant secondary school principals to review this situation with the possibility of rectifying a situation which is obviously causing some concern."