Thursday, April 12, 2012

50 towns to see handover of school patronage

Nearly 50 communities around the country have been identified as the sites where the Catholic Church should first hand over control of primary schools.

This is one of the key recommendations in the long-awaited report of the advisory group to Education Minister Ruairí Quinn’s Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector.

Following almost a year of consultations, it also calls for changes to how denominational schools in areas where choice remains limited, cater for an increasingly diverse pupil population.

This should lead to new protocols to promote inclusiveness around issues such as the teaching of religion, display of religious artifacts, and other issues which cause tensions in some communities where non-Catholic children have no choice but to attend a school under the patronage of the local Catholic bishop.

The group was chaired by John Coolahan, a former NUI Maynooth professor of education. 

The other two members are former National Parents’ Council-Primary chief executive Fionnuala Kilfeather and ex-University College Dublin deputy president Caroline Hussey.

Their draft report was submitted to the minister before Christmas and Mr Quinn is expected to largely support the recommendations when he gives his official response next month.

The 43 towns and the four areas of Dublin singled out for the first phase of divestment were identified by the department in 2010. That came after a request from Catholic bishops who wanted to know where there was likely to be most demand for greater choice of schools among parents, but where populations were not likely to rise enough to warrant a new school.

They include more than 30 communities with no multi-denominational school, some where there are already up to six or seven primary schools.

"There is urgency for action on divesting. But a ‘big bang’ or radical upheaval approach is not advisable. In this context, change of patronage should happen in a phased, incremental way," the report says.

The advisory group said groups which expressed views to its consultation process accepted it was unrealistic to expect patronage transfer to happen without costs. However, its report said some spending would appear eminently justifiable.

Mr Quinn says he is mindful that changes should be cost-neutral where possible, given the demands on resources available for primary education. However, he says parental choice remains the main concern.

"Over recent decades, Irish society has been undergoing major political, social, economic, cultural, demographic and educational change. Primary school provision needs to reflect this changed society and provide for increased diversity."

The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, which first called for a forum on patronage over a decade ago, welcomed the report. However, it said this was the start of the process and the real work would now begin at local school level.

The advisory group also considered the question of Irish-medium primary schools, and has recommended piloting a concept of "satellite" schools linked to well-established parent all-Irish schools.