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03/08/2010
Bid To Cut Church's Influence On Schools
A new report from the Republic's Department of Education has signalled a reduction in the amount of Irish schools to be under the direct patronage of the Church.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills, Mary Coughlan, today published the outcome of work undertaken by her Department, at the request of the Catholic Church, to identify areas that may offer potential for the church to remove its patronage from certain primary schools.
According to Ms Coughlan, the church raised the reduction with the department at a meeting in November 2009 attended by senior representatives of the church and that at the request of those senior representatives, the Department undertook to identify possible areas where the demographics and existing school configuration would be best suited for the removal of the Churches official role in the school.
This morning, the Council for Education of the Irish Bishops’ Conference welcomed the report saying the Catholic Church in Ireland did not see itself in the future as the sole or dominant provider of schools.
A spokesman for the conference this morning said: "The Catholic Schools Partnership, under its Chairperson Fr Michael Drumm, will play a leading role in this process. We live in a changing Ireland and our Catholic schools and parishes must continue to adapt to new cultural and social contexts.
"Schools are among the most important of social realities. We look forward to progress on these steps that need to be taken in the development of a long-term framework with regard to the patronage of primary schools. Change needs to be thought through carefully. We invite those who are interested in the future of Catholic schools to make their views known and to contribute to this important debate in our society."
The Tánaiste said a list of criteria was used to choose which schools would be forgoing the Churches patronage.
The report suggested the most eligible for new patronage were schools outside of the five city areas of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford,
areas with a population of greater than 5,000 persons and less than 20,000 persons, areas that did not experience greater than 20% growth between 2002-2006 and where the establishment of new schools is unlikely to emerge until at least 2016.
Also on the shortlist were areas that have at least three primary schools within a 2km range of the CSO Town Boundary and areas where school provision is predominantly Catholic or where there is very limited diversity of provision at present.
A total of 43 town areas satisfied the criteria, according to today's report and six were selected at random, having regard to achieving a geographic spread.
The decision on the identity of the particular catholic school or schools to be trialled now rests with the relevant Bishop, as patron, and the catholic community in the parish or parishes concerned. Today's report added that any decision must also follow consultation with the parent body and staff of the schools.
(DW/BMcC)
The Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills, Mary Coughlan, today published the outcome of work undertaken by her Department, at the request of the Catholic Church, to identify areas that may offer potential for the church to remove its patronage from certain primary schools.
According to Ms Coughlan, the church raised the reduction with the department at a meeting in November 2009 attended by senior representatives of the church and that at the request of those senior representatives, the Department undertook to identify possible areas where the demographics and existing school configuration would be best suited for the removal of the Churches official role in the school.
This morning, the Council for Education of the Irish Bishops’ Conference welcomed the report saying the Catholic Church in Ireland did not see itself in the future as the sole or dominant provider of schools.
A spokesman for the conference this morning said: "The Catholic Schools Partnership, under its Chairperson Fr Michael Drumm, will play a leading role in this process. We live in a changing Ireland and our Catholic schools and parishes must continue to adapt to new cultural and social contexts.
"Schools are among the most important of social realities. We look forward to progress on these steps that need to be taken in the development of a long-term framework with regard to the patronage of primary schools. Change needs to be thought through carefully. We invite those who are interested in the future of Catholic schools to make their views known and to contribute to this important debate in our society."
The Tánaiste said a list of criteria was used to choose which schools would be forgoing the Churches patronage.
The report suggested the most eligible for new patronage were schools outside of the five city areas of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford,
areas with a population of greater than 5,000 persons and less than 20,000 persons, areas that did not experience greater than 20% growth between 2002-2006 and where the establishment of new schools is unlikely to emerge until at least 2016.
Also on the shortlist were areas that have at least three primary schools within a 2km range of the CSO Town Boundary and areas where school provision is predominantly Catholic or where there is very limited diversity of provision at present.
A total of 43 town areas satisfied the criteria, according to today's report and six were selected at random, having regard to achieving a geographic spread.
The decision on the identity of the particular catholic school or schools to be trialled now rests with the relevant Bishop, as patron, and the catholic community in the parish or parishes concerned. Today's report added that any decision must also follow consultation with the parent body and staff of the schools.
(DW/BMcC)
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