OPINION:NOW THAT our primary schools have reopened after the recent cold spell, and in the light of the astounding revelations in the latest Irish Timesopinion poll, it is timely to explore the apparent thaw in the Catholic Church's attitude to the question of pluralism and patronage in our 3,200 primary schools, writes RUAIRÍ QUINN
Bishop Leo O’Reilly, chairman of the bishops’ commission on education, recently made an interesting contribution (“Catholics entitled to their schools”, Opinion and Analysis, December 19th).
“There is a need for pluralism of education in Ireland so that parents have a choice, as far as possible, about what kind of school their children will attend,” he wrote. “This right to parental choice in education is recognised in most democracies and enshrined in our Constitution.
“Nobody denies that there are many primary schools under Catholic patronage. In a changing Ireland, additional forms of patronage are emerging. We have welcomed this, and last month Catholic school patrons began discussions with the Department of Education about the transfer of patronage.”
This is a welcome development and it should be encouraged. The Catholic Church is the patron of 92 per cent of 3,200 primary schools in the Republic. This historical legacy does not reflect the reality of modern Ireland.
In recent decades, three new patrons have emerged. The Muslim community has two primary schools in Dublin. The Gaelscoileanna Movement and Educate Together are the other two patrons. One provides primary education through the medium of the Irish language. The other provides a multidenominational ethos through English.
In 2008, Mary Hanafin, then minister for education, requested Dublin County Vocational Education Committee to act as patron to two new primary schools in north Dublin, on an experimental basis. It should be understood that nearly all of the newly built primary schools in areas of population growth are either Gaelscoileanna or Educate Together.
Two issues compound the problem of school provision. Our population is growing. In 2008 Ireland saw its highest birth rate since 1896, with just over 74,500 babies born. In two years’ time, those children will be looking for a place in junior infants classes.
At present there are 498,914 pupils in our primary schools. By 2020 that figure, according to the Central Statistics Office, could be as high as 620,000. Many are living in built-up areas, like in my constituency of Dublin South East where, according to the census, 67.6 per cent are Catholic. Many other constituencies are similar.
This is where the second issue arises. Catholic and Protestant primary schools have admission policies which require them to give priority to members of their own church. Some Catholic schools in Dublin South East require a baptismal certificate for the child and a utility bill in the name of the parents for a dwelling within the parish.
Some 90 per cent of the primary schools in Dublin South East have waiting lists. Newborn infants have their names put on a waiting list for schools by parents aware of the local situation. Young new parents or people who grew up in other parts of the country are astounded when they cannot get their children into their local school.
For some, the request for a baptismal certificate is an affront, if not a surprise. The parents assumed, wrongly, that the primary school was the local school.
As a result a new phenomenon is developing; the emergence of “compulsory Catholic”. One parent may be lapsed, the other a committed agnostic, humanist, or atheist. They realise that a visit to the baptismal font is between them and access to a primary school place for their child.
Parents and godparents, not practising, lapsed, agnostic or atheists are now required to make solemn vows, before a priest, to raise the child as a practising Catholic. The priest, who has not seen the parents before and does not expect to see them again, goes along with this charade. Neither party seems to worry that the hypocrisy involved may damage the children or undermine the coherence of the Catholic ethos.
The problem is not confined to the parents or pupils. Many teachers belong to the growing denomination of agnostics, humanists and atheists and non-religious in Ireland. In the 2006 census, 186,000 people replied “no religion” – the second largest “religious group” in the country.
The answer to Bishop O’Reilly’s welcome call for pluralism is the orderly transfer of Catholic patronage of some primary schools to other patron bodies under supervision of the Department of Education and Science.
This would reflect modern day practice and observance. It would enable Catholic parents to have Catholic schools which would deliver Catholic education for observant Catholic parents and their children.
It would also facilitate other Catholic parents who consciously want their Catholic children to be educated within a multidenominational ethos where they would learn openly about other religions and belief systems such as humanism and atheism.
We need to be extremely careful about how we proceed. At all times, our primary concern must be to ensure the maintenance of the continued quality of education for the children involved in our primary school system. To achieve this, teachers must have security and certainty about the process. Existing contracts and years of service must be fully recognised. We do, fortunately, have some experience from the past that can help us into the future.
The amalgamations of secondary schools, in the past, provide many lessons that will help to inform the future. The fact that the Department of Education and Science provides the salaries for teachers is a major factor for stability and continuity.
Article 42 of our Constitution recognises the parent as the primary educator of the child. The Labour Party believes that this is a good starting point from which to address the issue of the provision of education. I agree with Bishop O’Reilly: parents should have a choice, as far as possible, about what kind of school their children will attend. This will maintain standards and quality through effective competition, across our primary school system.
Getting from where we are, to a pluralism of choice in primary education which reflects the needs of Ireland today and into the future, is a journey which we need to take. But we must embark carefully and with concern, first and foremost, for our young students and their teachers.
That is why I fully support Archbishop Diarmuid Martin’s calls for a national forum on patronage in primary schools. Such a forum would involve all the stakeholders, parents, patrons, teachers, principals and others. This would provide the road map to the future of our primary school system.
Ruairí Quinn is Labour Party spokesman on education and science