The move comes after more than a decade of discussion about the future patronage of Catholic schools amid a demand for an increasingly pluralist education system.
The Department of Education has been keen to hear parents voices and has launched two separate online surveys of parents and stakeholders views in the last number of months.
Previous efforts to advance divestment have met with limited success, and some Church sources acknowledge that the establishment of a commission, while welcome, may not in itself resolve long-standing difficulties.
Among the issues likely to be examined is the suggestion that a list of schools suitable for divestment could be identified. Similar approaches it is believed were attempted in the past but failed to progress, largely because of unresolved legal and parental concerns.
Speaking to the Education Nation podcast launched by this paper on Catholic Schools week, Dr Eilis Humphries, the recently retired Chief Executive Officer of The Association of Patrons and Trustees of Catholic Schools (APTCS) said that while the Irish education system is quite complex, “at primary level, I think everybody’s aware that it’s predominantly church based, Catholic church based. There’s well over 80% of schools where the patron is the local bishop.
And obviously in a changing Ireland, they’ve made a few attempts and they’re on their third attempt to change that and to redress the balance a little bit and to divest some of the schools from Catholic patronage to other patronages.
But look, to be fair, I think we all recognize that it’s not the right balance. There’s too many Catholic primary schools. I mean, I heard Bishop Paul Connell recently speaking very well on the matter and they [the bishops] want to be able to have a Catholic school that is a Catholic school and there are too many of them at the moment. However when it comes to actually changing nobody wants to change their school So I think that’s a very interesting dilemma, but that’s where we are.”
Speaking to The Irish Catholic Jonathan Tiernan CEO, of the Jesuit Education Trust said that “The most constructive approach is to engage with the Department of Education to develop a comprehensive agreement on rebalancing patronage at primary level. This should not be framed as a simple transfer of schools or a strategy of contraction, but as the starting point for renewing those schools that continue under Catholic patronage.”
He added: “We in Catholic education must set out a clear and convincing account of what Catholic schooling should mean in a pluralist Ireland, and how it differs from a model that could become largely Catholic in name or culture only.
“There is a strong case for patrons playing a more visible role in areas such as the induction of new teachers, the provision of professional development, and whole-school evaluation. This would strengthen and sustain the distinctive culture each patron seeks to foster.”
Mr Tiernan said that nurturing ethos needs to be shared.
“A coherent Catholic school culture does not emerge by chance. It depends on deliberate structures and support. In a rebalanced system, responsibility for nurturing ethos must be shared in an intentional way by patrons, teachers, parents, and parishes.”
According to some observers, one of the most significant obstacles remains the operation of the Admissions Act. Under current legislation, Catholic parents do not enjoy the same explicit protections as parents from minority denominations when school patronage changes are proposed.
Parental consultation is also expected to be central to the commission’s work. Earlier divestment initiatives stalled in part because of resistance from parents who felt insufficiently consulted or inadequately protected. The commission is expected to report to the Bishops’ Conference in due course. Its findings will be closely watched by parents, educators, and policymakers, particularly against the backdrop of evolving Church–State relations in education. While commissions have previously produced extensive analysis, the challenge this time will be translating recommendations into practical and timely action.