Parents to be polled over school patronage

TOWN HALL meetings and other activities that might whip up a “media frenzy’’ are to be prohibited when parents vote for their preferred choice of school patron in the autumn.

In a landmark move, the Department of Education will survey parents in 44 town areas during October and November as part of a process that will see some Catholic schools transferred to other patrons.

In an online poll, parents will be asked to select their patron of choice from a list of the main primary school management bodies including; the Catholic Church; Educate Together (the multi-denominational group) ; Gaelscoileanna; the Vocational Education Committee (that runs a small number of community national schools) and others.

The surveys will take place in “settled” areas where there is thought to be an oversupply of Catholic primary schools. These include postal districts Dublin 4, 6 and 8; Tuam, Co Galway; Malahide, Co Dublin, and Killarney, Co Kerry.

Yesterday Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn said he hoped these surveys could take place in a calm and respectful manner without any media frenzy.

No public meetings will be allowed. Instead, Mr Quinn said a public information campaign would be rolled out in the 47 areas and parents would be given full information on the various possible patron bodies. Helplines will also be established. Mr Quinn said his department will consult with the patron bodies on a code of practice which will ensure that local discussions are conducted “in a reasonable fashion”.

Mr Quinn hopes the process of divesting some primary schools from the church to other patrons could begin as early as next year.

But this timescale looks ambitious as schools will be allowed a lengthy transition period if they do decide to transfer. The process could also be delayed by a planned Government White Paper on the issues raised by the report of the forum on patronage and pluralism in primary schools.

The forum on patronage – published in April – advised against a “big bang” approach to the transfer of patronage. But it backed a more inclusive system where the rights of those of all faiths and none were recognised.

For many parents, the forthcoming survey will be their first opportunity to have a real say on the issue of patronage. Last year, parents in Gorey, Co Wexford, backed the local VEC to run a new second-level school. But Educate Together – who lost out narrowly – claimed it could not compete with the better-resourced VEC sector during the campaign.

The church controls about 3,000 of the 3,200 primary schools in the State. Last year Mr Quinn said he hoped about 50 per cent of all Catholic primary schools could be divested to new patrons. The Catholic Schools Partnership says a transfer rate of about 10 per cent is more realistic.

Interviewed on Newstalk, Mr Quinn said that 1,500 small or “stand-alone” schools in rural areas would have to remain under Catholic control “as we can’t have three or four schools at every crossroads’’.