No school should be a "recruiting agency for a particular worldview" and should instead concentrate on meeting children's many educational needs, the President, Ms McAleese, said yesterday.
Whatever values a school sought to impart must meet the basic educational needs of children. She was speaking in Dublin at a conference on school culture and ethos.
The conference, organised by the Marino Institute of Education, continues today when the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, will deliver a speech.