Speaking at the annual Novena in Knock Shrine in County Mayo on the topic, What makes a Catholic School? Fr Drumm told a packed congregation that schools play an important role in all our lives.
“Schools are important places. We spend a lot of time in them. This includes a significant proportion of that most formative period in life between 4 years of age and 18 years of age. The informal education received at home and in the community is of crucial significance. The formal education of children in schools has its own integrity related to the stage of development of the pupils. When schools are working at or near their best they are truly a remarkable human achievement."
“Young children have a safe place to learn and play and pray; adolescents grow into a deeper intellectual , emotional and moral world; teachers use their personal and professional abilities to nurture and challenge new generations; parents, members of boards of management and other adults give of their time and money to support the educational enterprise. The hope is that by 17-18 years of age a young adult who is free, rational and capable of mature relationships will be able to cross the threshold into higher education or the world of work.”
Explaining that schools face many challenges in their work today Fr Drumm suggests that by looking back to our origins as Christians we may find the answer.
He says that Jesus was described as a teacher 46 times in the Gospels and by examining what Jesus taught we may find the way forward for Catholic Schools.
“A key element of the Christian message is that life is not the way it was intended to be. It is broken in all sorts of ways. Your life and mine, our families and, yes our schools and all our relationships are fraught with human limitations. Christian discipleship is characterised by healing, hearing, new sight, freedom and good news. But to grasp in a deeper way what these liberating possibilities mean we need to become aware of the realities of sickness, deafness, blindness, captivity and poverty. When we look honestly at ourselves and those around us we discover that we are the sick, the deaf, the blind, the captive, and the poor and not just in a metaphorical sense but in the physical, psychological and spiritual realities of our lives. Only when we immerse ourselves in these human experiences can we discover who Jesus really was, for his ministry was all about lifting burdens.”
He added, “The call of Christian discipleship demands that we always seek to lift the burden. Whether this means helping people to stand up and walk or their own, or exorcising their fear of the unknown, or expanding their minds through education, or feeding then when they are too weak to feed themselves , or opening their eyes to the reality of life.”
Speaking about the future Fr Drumm said that there has been much media speculation about Catholic Primary Schools, some of which is ill-informed.
He said, “There are Catholic Schools in almost every country in the world except where non democratic regimes have banned them. There will be Catholic Primary Schools in every community in Ireland as long as parents and the broader Catholic community support such schools. Catholic schools are inclusive and have led the way in special needs and Traveller education. Catholic Schools are committed to, and often attain, the highest standards in all aspects of school life. Ireland has fantastic teachers and in our Catholic Schools we should stop questioning their commitment and find ways to support and nourish them in their intellectual and religious lives. Catholic schools are well served by about 20,000 volunteers who serve on boards of management. Where would we be without the generosity of these people who give freely of their time and expertise? The cost to the State of all these 20,000 board members is zero euro.”