Minister rules out Catholic Church veto on school jobs

SCHOOL PATRONS:THERE IS no question of the Catholic Church securing a veto on appointments to new State-run community primary schools, Minister for Education Mary Hanafin said.

In a press briefing at the INTO conference, she said the Co Dublin Vocational Education Committee would have sole responsbility for the recruitment of staff in the three new schools, in west and north Dublin.

Msgr Dan O'Connor, of the Catholic Primary School Managers' Association, denied that the church was seeking a veto on appointments.

He said that the church would like to be consulted on the appointments of those responsible for Catholic instruction in schools. But this, he insisted, did not amount to a veto and was exactly what all other management groups were seeking.

Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act, and published in the Irish Independent, said the church had drawn up a list of non-negotiable demands in return for involvement in the new school model.

But yesterday Msgr O'Connor insisted the church was interested in consultation and not confrontation on the issue of how religion should be taught in the new multi-denominational VEC primary schools.

In her address to the INTO, Ms Hanafin gave further details of a major conference in late June which will consider the implications of the new diversity for the future management of schools.

Each of the main patron bodies will be invited to participate along with other representatives including teachers, parents and management bodies.

Participants at the conference will consider issues such as:

The challenges that a changing society presents for both new and existing schools in areas such as their ethos and approach to religious instruction.

The balance between parental choice and capacity to deliver.

The need to ensure that all schools are inclusive.

The implications of this for enrolment policies.

Ms Hanafin said "discussions at this conference will focus on the particular challenges of ethos and inclusion for patron bodies, under the existing as well as new patronage models. We need to ensure that we are well placed to cater for future demands. The conference will consider the long-term challenges of organising and developing our system of school governance to accommodate new parental demands and aspirations, deal with issues of capacity and choice and ensure whole of community inclusion."

She said the conference would also look at the "wider questions involved in meeting the needs of a diverse community, in terms of enrolment policies as well as issues such as the approach to teaching religion in integrated settings".