THE OBJECTIVES of multi-faith understanding and social harmony “are
best served by children of all faiths and none learning together”, the
Fianna Fáil party has said in submission to the forum on patronage and
pluralism in the primary sector.
The document was presented to
party members at a conference on education in Birr, Co Offaly, Sunday.
“We appreciate that some parents do not want their children
to undergo faith formation in any one creed at school. At the same time,
we recognise that other parents view faith formation as a vital part of
their child’s education. We believe that it is possible, and desirable,
for both of these perspectives to be respected and accommodated in the
one school,” it said.
It continued that “this philosophy
underpinned the announcement of a new pilot patronage model, the
community national school, by the then minister for education and
science, Mary Hanafin TD, in 2007.”
The model had been piloted in five
locations.
In the new community national schools, “children of
different faiths are taught together for most of the school day. All
children take part as one group in a multi-belief programme that enables
them to learn about all faiths and grow to understand each other’s
beliefs.
“For three or four weeks during the year, children spend
all belief classes in the main faith groups (Catholics, Other
Christians, Muslims and Other, to date) and are taught faith-specific
material. As well as those of faith, the needs of atheist and humanist
children are also catered for.”
The key motive for the party’s support
for such schools was “a desire to ensure whole community inclusion in
our schools, not just of children of different faiths, but also of those
from different socio-economic or cultural backgrounds and those with
special needs,” it said.
A further advantage was that the approach
could accommodate diversity without the extra investment “that would be
required to provide a range of different stand-alone religious and
non-religious schools within every community”.
While cherishing
the contribution the churches have made to education, it “would be
concerned if the divesting of schools by the Catholic Church was to lead
over time to children becoming segregated on religious lines into
different schools.
Such segregation could seriously undermine social
harmony in an increasingly multi-faith and multi-cultural environment.
We believe all schools should be multi-faith in their enrolment policies
and education practices, albeit under different patrons.”
Acknowledging
the role Educate Together and supporting its ongoing involvement, the
submission continued that “we believe the community national school
model we announced in 2007 should in principle have an increasing role
to play . . . However, we would only support a national roll-out of this
model following evaluation and improvement as necessary in light of
experience on the ground. A gradual transition in the patronage
arrangements of existing schools is vital,” it added.