Sir, – Patsy McGarry (“School patronage: history suggests there will be no overnight transformation” Home News, April 22nd) refers to the results of the recent primary school survey by stating that “60 per cent of parents in denominational schools wish to retain their school’s ethos, while a significant minority do not”.
What is omitted from this statement is the fact that this statistic was selectively published by the Department of Education. The responses of the parents of children who attend non-denominational school and also parents of preschool children were not included.
This is an important fact to state when reporting on this issue, as the data currently shared by the Department of Education are incomplete and therefore the discussion is based on flawed information.
One wonders why the department decided to release figures in this way. It certainly seems logical that the input of parents of preschool children, who have eight years of school ahead of them, is more relevant than the views of parents of children in sixth class, who have less than one term left in primary school.
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Another point to highlight from the article was the statement by Minister for Education, Hildegarde Naughton, that “patrons will have the ultimate say”. Again, one has to ask why a national survey was undertaken, results released in a pick and mix fashion, and then no national action to match the survey is planned.
It seems that the data will be shared with local schools and patrons and the department intends to have nothing more to do with it.
The current situation where children of other faiths and none have to “opt out” of religious instruction is not working in practice. While all children have a constitutional right to attend school without religious instruction, media reports and testimony from parents have repeatedly highlighted that there is no practical opt-out mechanism, and the matter is left up to individual schools with no oversight from the Department of Education.
There are no additional staff to supervise and teach those who are officially opted out. Thus, they sit in classrooms, listening to the religious teachings, and during sacrament years, miss out on hours and hours of instruction, without any alternative.
Exclusion rather than opting out is the result in many cases. Parents, children and teachers should not be put in this position. Some 96 per cent of schools in Ireland are denominational, and thus, going elsewhere is not an option for the vast majority of children.
I also wish to point out the irony of surveying a child’s constitutional rights, as if they are at the whim and fancy of the general population. I cannot think of any other right that has been actually surveyed, and the decision about whether to uphold this right has been based on the preferences of other people.
Most of McGarry’s article discusses the divestment process. By any stretch of the imagination, this has not been a success, and frankly this is another example of the Department of Education washing their hands of their responsibilities.
The alternative solution, whereby faith formation would occur on an opt-in basis outside of core school hours is a simple and cost-effective solution. Therefore, those who wish to opt into religious instruction could to so, by attending classes straight before or after school, and those who do not wish to, do not. Everybody’s rights would then be upheld and there would be more time for core subjects within the school day. This is a practical solution in place in many schools across the country already, including Gaelscoileanna without a religious patron and some Educate Together and Community National Schools.
At the very least, the full results of the national school survey should be released and acknowledged by the Department of Education and media, so a fully factual discussion can occur. Yours, etc -
AOIFE MC CARTHY,
Stradbally,
Co Laois.
