Introduction
Thank you for the invitation to address your Conference.
The last time I spoke to you was 25 months ago – on my first full day in office as Minister for Education and Skills – I am delighted to be here again today.
I was delighted to meet your leadership recently, and heard of some of the issues you are likely to be discussing over the course of your Conference.
Issues such as the operation of the National Procurement Service, the timing of capitation payments, the administrative burden placed on schools by the Revenue Commissioners, and the recognition of schools as registered charities, are all concerns which have been highlighted with me.
And of course, the reforms underway in the primary sector are also of great interest to you.
However, I would like to answer any questions in relation to these and other matters during the Q&A afterwards.
Today, I want to focus on updating you on progress following the setting up of the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in 2011.
I would also like to offer a few reflections on some questions that need to be addressed, as we ponder the future of Catholic education in Ireland.
Forum on Patronage and Pluralism
In 2007, the Irish Bishop’s Conference published a document entitled “Catholic Primary Schools, A Policy Provision into the Future.”
That document made it clear that “the Catholic Church accepts there should be choice and diversity within a national education system, and so it believes that parents who desire schools under different patronage should, where possible, be facilitated in accessing them.”
This sentiment was clearly endorsed by Bishop Leo O’Reilly in 2009, when he remarked that “a greater plurality of school provision in our society is desirable and necessary to meet the needs of a more pluralist Irish society.”
Following on from the publication of the Bishops’ document, it was of course Archbishop Diarmuid Martin who first proposed the idea of a forum on patronage and pluralism.
The Forum, chaired by Prof. John Coolahan, reported a year ago.
The report of the Forum examines how demand for different types of patronage can be met in areas of stable population, by divesting patronage of existing schools where there is evidence of parental demand for change.
The recommendations of the Report explored the practicalities of how this might be achieved.
We did not proceed with a survey in Dublin 8 as was recommended in the Report.
This was at the request of the Catholic Church, and in the context of the work underway with the Dublin Archdiocese.
A school amalgamation has been agreed, and a school building identified for divestment.
Discussions are proceeding in relation to the use of the school building for a new Educate Together school opening in September of this year.
Parental Surveys
Following on from the Forum’s recommendations, the views of parents have now been surveyed in 43 towns and suburbs.
5 towns and suburbs were surveyed as pilot areas – there was clear demand in all 5 areas for a greater choice of patronage to be available amongst local schools.
I expect an interim response from the relevant bishops and archbishop in the coming days, and I look forward to a receiving their final responses by the summer.
I am confident that the responses will be generous and constructive.
Two weeks ago, I also announced the results of the surveys in the 38 further towns and suburbs which have been surveyed.
Again, I have been encouraged by the response of parents – in total, a sufficient number of parents in two thirds of the areas surveyed have made it clear that they support an immediate change in the existing school patronage.
Nobody, least of all, the Catholic Church, can be surprised by the results.
Indeed in 2009, Bishop Donal Murray stated that: “Looking to the future it is clear that as Irish society becomes more diverse, Catholic schools will not continue to be such a massive proportion of the primary schools in the country.”
I think the evidence from the surveys backs up that prediction.
But the results also show that for the majority of parents in each of the 43 areas, Catholic education remains their preferred form of ethos.
There are two inescapable conclusions that follow from this exercise.
Yes, we will have greater choice in an increasing number of areas around the country.
But, it is also clear that a majority of primary schools in Ireland will remain Catholic, for a long time to come.
I hope that recognition of that fact will dispel some of the fears which exist amongst some Catholic school communities.
This is about providing for parental choice – nothing more, nothing less.
Just as the Catholic Bishops were to the forefront of recognising a need to accommodate greater diversity within our schools, so I would like to warmly welcome the positive response of the Catholic Schools Partnership to the results of the surveys.
However, at local level, I have heard of campaigns operated by some schools during the survey process.
These campaigns asserted to parents that expressing a desire for any other form of patronage would lead to a unilateral handover of Catholic schools to non-Catholic patrons.
This was never the intention and I regret that a small minority of schools felt the need to embark upon such scare-mongering.
I would like to commend the broader leadership of our schools, including patrons, which ensured that the surveys took place in a calm atmosphere, avoiding unnecessary contention or division in our communities.
Fr. Michael Drumm of the Catholic Schools’ Partnership has made it clear that he believes, that the new arrangements for diversity of choice should be ready to accommodate alternative patronage, for students, teachers and parents, at the start of the school year in September 2014.
I fully support that timeframe, and I hope that the final responses of the Bishops and Archbishops, due in October of this year, will pave the way for greater diversity to be delivered in 29 areas by September of next year.
The future for Catholic education
The Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector has provided a mechanism for working towards an appropriate accommodation of the types of school patronage demanded by Irish parents.
But it has also perhaps brought to the fore other questions about the future of Catholic education in Ireland.
Not questions that I would seek to apply immediate answers to; but questions that I think deserve public discussion.
For example, what is the appropriate amount of time to devote to religious education and sacramental preparation in our schools?
The most recent OECD Education at a Glance indicators, suggest that Ireland and Israel spend considerably more time, than any other OECD countries, on religious instruction in schools.
A recent INTO survey found that over 70% of teachers are spending even more than the curriculum allocation of 2.5 hours per week on religious instruction.
I am strongly of the belief that the education of our children must be about more than simply producing economic actors.
But can we really afford to continue providing, for example, a mere 60 minutes per week of scientific instruction to our children?
Or, for that matter, can we afford to maintain PE at the same level – just 60 minutes per week?
Perhaps the Catholic Dublin diocesan policy on first communion and first reconciliation points towards a direction, where more of the sacramental preparation takes place in the local parish, outside school hours, while preserving the central role of the school and class teacher in faith formation?
The same INTO survey also indicates that 80% of Church-linked schools cater for pupils who are not of the faith of that school.
I know that the majority of all schools, aim to be inclusive.
Many of your schools have been some of the most welcoming of students with special educational needs, children from non-Irish backgrounds, and those from traveller families.
And I know that the Catholic Schools Partnership are committed to continuing to exploring how best practice on inclusiveness can be shared between Catholic schools.
The Department will also undertake a consultation on how we can promote greater inclusiveness in all of our primary schools later this year.
Together, we need to examine how we can take account of the ethos and traditions of existing schools, while respecting the rights of those of different traditions.
I have also asked the NCCA to start exploring, with
the education partners and religious interests, the development of Education about Religion and Beliefs and Ethics programmes, for all of our primary schools.
These programmes will supplement, rather than replace, existing faith formation programmes in schools.
Conclusion
I was delighted when it was suggested that my participation here today would be by way of Question & Answer session, rather than a formal address.
I recognise that some of the questions I have posed are challenging.
They do not have simple, ready-made solutions available for implementation in Catholic schools.
But together, we can and must, seek to address these and many other questions.
I look forward to a full discussion with you, and thank you once again for your invitation to be here today.