The Catholic Church has called for Catholic children to be given priority at Scotland’s best denominational school if it is over-subscribed, after the local authority said it would remove part of the school’s catchment area.Representatives of the Church told The Herald its schools were open to all faiths but, when they were full, precedence should go to pupils who had been baptised as Catholics.
The Church’s statement has emerged during a consultation by East Renfrewshire Council over future admission arrangements for St Ninian’s High School, in Giffnock, which regularly tops exam league tables.
The council wants to remove hundreds of homes from the current catchment area to ease pressure on the school, which is over-subscribed.
Although the homes are close to the school – and are in its catchment area – they are located in Glasgow, and East Renfrewshire argues education of those living in them should be the responsibility of the city council.
However, parents from both sides of the local authority border – and the Catholic Church – say the problem of overcrowding could be solved if East Renfrewshire adopts the policy of prioritising Catholic families.
A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Glasgow said “There is a strong sense that St Ninian’s was built to serve the educational needs of the Catholic community across the wider area and that, without the involvement of families from Glasgow, it would not have been viable.
“There is now a deep-seated sense of injustice that the very communities that helped make St Ninian’s such a success could now be excluded because it has been so successful.
“People from all religious faiths are welcome in Catholic schools, but where a school is over-subscribed it is our belief priority should be given to children of Catholic families.”
Parents from a number of primary schools surrounding St Ninian’s have already backed the call for priority to be given to Catholics.
A spokesman for the St Ninian’s parent council said: “The school should be open to everyone, but when it is oversubscribed it should be remembered that it came into being to provide suitable education for the children of Catholic families in the wider area and the wider Catholic community feels that very strongly.”
However, a spokeswoman for East Renfrewshire defended its strategy of removing homes in the Glasgow area.
She said the council was happy to give Catholic families from Glasgow priority if they applied through a placing request, but said there could be legal issues if Catholic families were favoured over others in the catchment area.
“If the council were to prioritise places at St Ninian’s for baptised Catholic children, then residents of Glasgow with a baptismal certificate would have a greater right to a place in an East Renfrewshire school than East Renfrewshire residents wishing a Catholic education for their children, but not in possession of a baptismal certificate,” she said.
“The council believes that, in this situation, the risk of legal challenge from affected East Renfrewshire families would be high and would delay any attempt to address the pressures on St Ninian’s.”
She said the only area where education authorities could discriminate on religious grounds in relation to pupil admission was in their criteria for accepting placing requests – in line with East Renfrewshire’s proposal.
SIC: HS/UK