School patronage

Hotblack Desiato

No shít. If I go on to have grandchildren I hope things will be better for them.

smacl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119203853#Comment_119203853

Always worth pointing out each and every abuse carried out by the church while they are given undeserved special treatment, whether the abuse is financial, sexual or social in nature. It is the cumulative effect of doing so over time that continues to erode the churches privileged position and credibility in our society. While change is desperately slow it is also very pronounced. For example we have moved from being a largely homophobic society in my youth, where homosexuality was outlawed, to promoting same sex equality and enshrining it in law (against the express will of the church). Could be another decade before we enjoy an egalitarian secular school system, but there is absolutely no doubt that it is coming.

Hotblack Desiato

Letter from Atheist Ireland in today's IT:

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/2022/07/07/un-human-rights-committee/

Sir, – Minister for Children and Equality Roderic O’Gorman told the UN Human Rights Committee this week that Ireland aims to have 400 multi-denominational primary schools by 2030. But he simply ignored the fact that the UN committee has repeatedly asked Ireland to also provide secular or non-denominational schools.

Indeed, Ireland misled the UN committee in its written response, by saying the Government’s objective is to have 400 “multi-denominational or non-denominational schools”.

But this is not so. The programme for government refers only to “multi-denominational” schools.

And in the final question of this week’s UN session, the committee reminded Ireland that it had not given any information about its commitment to provide a greater number of non-confessional or secular schools.

Why is this important? Opening up more multi-denominational schools will not necessarily help minorities as many of these schools operate in practice as Catholic schools while claiming that they have a Christian ethos.

Even with the maximum implementation of the proposed Government plan of 400 multi- denominational schools (and no non-denominational schools), that would still leave 85 per cent of schools with a single denominational ethos.

Also, most areas have standalone schools, so atheist or minority faith parents in those areas would have no choice other than to send their child to a school with an even stronger Catholic ethos, which is what the bishops are lobbying for in return for divesting a small number of schools.

All of this shows why multiple patronage and multiple ethos as the basis for policy is the underlying problem in Irish schools, not the solution. The Oireachtas Education Committee has already concluded that this brings about segregation of children and inequality.

Ultimately the only way for the education system to treat everybody equally is to have State-funded secular schools that do not promote either religion or atheism, but simply teach children in an objective, critical, and pluralistic manner. – Yours, etc,

MICHAEL NUGENT,

Chairperson,

JANE DONNELLY,

Human Rights Officer,

Atheist Ireland,

Dublin 9. 

Hotblack Desiato

The 400 figure is pathetically low, and still won't be achieved.

Religious oaths and secular education

Sir, — The UN Human Rights Committee has again told Ireland to provide secular education by establishing non-denominational schools, and to further amend the Employment Equality Act to bar all forms of discrimination against teachers and medical workers.

The UN has also told Ireland to remove the religious oaths in the Constitution for people who take up senior public office positions, taking into account the right not to be compelled to reveal one’s thoughts or adherence to a religion or belief in public.

Atheist Ireland has repeatedly raised these three issues with the UN, and the Irish State has repeatedly told the UN that it will address them, but the Government never carries through on these commitments.

Indeed, Ireland misled the UN this year by saying the Government’s objective is to have 400 “multidenominational or non-denominational schools”. But this is not true. The programme for Government refers only to “multidenominational” schools.

What the UN has asked for is secular or non-denominational schools, which they explicitly refer to in this week’s concluding observations.

Atheist Ireland continues to promote these three fundamental human rights: the right to secular education through non-denominational schools; the right to teach in schools and work in hospitals without religious discrimination, and the right to be president, a judge, taoiseach, or tánaiste, without swearing a religious oath that a conscientious atheist could not take. — Yours, etc,

MICHAEL NUGENT,

Chairman,

JANE DONNELLY,

Human rights officer,

Atheist Ireland,

Dublin 9. 

Odhinn

"The Church is to start moving the preparation of children for Holy Communion and Confirmation out of the classroom, putting more pressure on families to prepare their children for the sacrament. 

The country’s largest archdiocese is developing plans to strip back pre-sacramental preparations in schools amid growing sentiments that many families and children have little interest in the celebration.

The new policy in the Archdiocese of Dublin, which has been in development for four years, follows a survey of 1,800 people including parents, priests and school principals."

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40963394.html

Not before time.

Hotblack Desiato

The Dublin Diocese talks a great game about this, divestment, etc. Nothing ever happens though.

Hotblack Desiato

...and then the next day the Examiner's sister paper publishes a completely contradictory story.

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2022/09/18/catholic-primary-schools-in-archdiocese-of-dublin-will-continue-communion-confirmation-preparation/

Catholic primary schools in the Archdiocese of Dublin will continue to prepare children for Communion and Confirmation under a policy aimed at placing a greater emphasis on families and the local parish in sacramental preparation.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/2022/11/24/church-role-in-health-and-schools/

Sir, – Peter Boylan points to the emergence of a new church-State nexus based on an alignment of economic policy interests (“Catholic church role in health and schools can no longer be funded by State”, Opinion & Analysis, November 22nd).

Traditional blind deference towards the clergy is also alive and well in the public sector, however.

The Department of Education has failed to issue guidelines on school opt-out arrangements from religious instruction (a constitutional right) and has also failed to instruct schools to clearly set out those arrangements in their admissions policies (a statutory requirement).

In education as in healthcare, our rights and laws go into a state of suspended animation once management is left to the church. Governance of these essential public services is driven by the alignment of powerful vested interests rather than by the rights and needs of their service users.

Education Equality has repeatedly called for the untangling of religious influence from Ireland’s publicly funded schools, with religious instruction instead offered on an optional basis outside the curriculum for those who choose it.

The Government has yet to even acknowledge our campaign, let alone engage with us.

And its continued failure to enforce even the most timid legislative initiatives in this area proves that, as Dr Boylan rightly says, church influence on this State remains far stronger than our politicians are willing to admit. – Yours, etc,

DAVID GRAHAM,

Communications Officer,

Education Equality,

Malahide,

Co Dublin.

Sir, – I wish to convey my strong support for the arguments expressed by Peter Boylan.

The recent revelations about the abusive nature of so many religious personnel would suggest that the very nature of the closed institutions to which they belong may have systematically nurtured brutish behaviour.

Surely it is time for our State to take back full control of all services (educational, medical) provided by religious organisations, particularly those that involve care of the young or vulnerable.

It should not take the revelation of repeated criminal behaviour for us to realise that the aspiration of equality and justice for all can only be achieved in a secular and pluralist society. – Yours, etc,

CAROL MacKEOGH,

Churchtown,

Dublin 14. 

Boylan's article appears to be viewable by non-subscribers :

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2022/11/22/church-ethos-and-role-in-healthcare-or-education-can-no-longer-be-funded-by-state/

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2022/12/28/religion-teaching-time-to-be-cut-in-new-primary-curriculum/

Two hours of religion a week is still far too much.

One hour of foreign language a week - ridiculous - they may as well not bother.

Hotblack Desiato

Interesting

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/social-affairs/2022/12/31/atheist-ireland-granted-special-un-status-in-bid-to-promote-secular-government/

Atheist Ireland has been granted special consultative status at the United Nations in what is believed to be a first for a national campaign group of its type.

“It means we can engage with the UN Economic and Social Council, Human Rights Council, General Assembly, and Secretariat, in order to advance our aims,” said the group’s chair Michael Nugent and human rights officer Jane Donnelly in a joint statement.

“On January 24th and 25th, we will attend our first UN session with special consultative status, when the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child will be questioning Ireland in Geneva. We will be highlighting religious discrimination in Irish schools including the lack of objective sex education,” they said.

While there is at least one international atheist group with consultative status at the UN, it is understood Atheist Ireland is the first national-level atheist organisation to secure such status.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/2023/01/21/department-has-placed-school-boards-in-an-impossible-position/

Sir, – Reflecting on the Wilson Hospital School and Enoch Burke case, there is one thing that is notable and frustrating for me, as a school principal and a volunteer on a school board of management. It is the legal relationship between the school and the teacher, and the complete absence of the Department of Education.

Since boards of management were introduced in our primary schools in 1975, we have the ludicrous arrangement where the Department of Education pays a teacher’s salary, and as if by magic is not the employer. The department is never troubled by recruitment, contracts, disciplinary or dismissal cases. That duty falls to the volunteers on the board of management of the school.

Volunteers can only be commended for serving on boards of management and for donating their time so generously and free of charge, all in the interest of the students and communities that they serve.

However, this is a poisoned chalice when school management becomes challenging and high profile, as in this case. The Department of Education will boast in their publications of how board “volunteers have individually and collectively enriched and contributed to the management and operation of our primary schools”. Yet officials are in absentia when difficult hearings and decisions arise, offering no presence or support, leaving board of management volunteers to dissect Department of Education circulars for nuances, and the finer procedural details, and ultimately reaching out to engage legal firms.

Why do we volunteer for boards of management? I wonder if the chairperson who volunteered for a term in the Wilson Hospital School ever imagined that their name would be in every corner of the media this week?

I wonder again, why do we volunteer? Well maybe we should stop, and let the Department of Education, once and for all, step up to their role in Irish education, and become the employer of State teachers, and the manager of schools. While they are at it, they should also become the patron body for all schools and relieve the religious bodies of their agenda, given that the State through the Department of Education finances the running of schools anyhow.

The Department of Education has placed itself in the incredible position where it pumps money into schools and education, yet cunningly shirks responsibility in key areas of education, by placing it conveniently away from them, into the distant hands of volunteers and religious bodies.

Time for education reform, which will take decades. We need a long-term policy of change, with a commitment that it will remain untouched through government changeovers and new Ministers. – Yours, etc,

DERMOT STANLEY,

Dublin 12.

Hotblack Desiato

Hmmmm

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2023/02/06/sharp-division-over-teaching-of-gender-identity-in-updated-sex-education-syllabus/

Sharp divisions over gender identity and the use of pronouns in schools are revealed in submissions to the State’s advisory body on the curriculum which is updating how sex education is taught.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is finalising a new Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum, which will provide 100 hours of learning over the three-year Junior Cycle for 12-15 year olds. It will, from next September, address issues such as gender identity, pornography and sexual consent.

Newly disclosed submissions show several parents groups have complained about the “promotion of transgender ideology” to young students, while a number of Catholic bodies have insisted that schools must be allowed to teach any updated syllabus only in accordance with their ethos.

Catholic bodies.. no surprises there

Other critics included the Irish Education Alliance, which said the “promotion of gender identity poses significant risks to the welfare of children” as highlighted with controversy over the Tavistock Clinic in the UK.

Who the hell are they? Let's have a look at their Twitter...

sounds like a perfectly rational bunch 🙄 Very grandiose title for a group with under 500 followers, though.

Genspect, who describe themselves as an “alliance of professionals, parent groups, trans people, detransitioners”, said the draft course promoted a “narrow-minded gender affirmative approach and assumes that everyone – students, parents and school staff – believes in the gender identity belief system”.

Wiki:

Genspect has advised parents against using trans children's chosen names and pronouns, recommended that schools ban "tucking" and "binding", as well as use "biologically accurate language in all cases" and not punish students for misgendering other students. Genspect also stated that "acceptance of the reality of their biological sex" should be the first treatment for gender variant children. Jenn Burleton, Executive Director of TransActive, described Genspect as "an anti-trans, 'gender critical' organization ideologically affiliated with TERFism, ROGD [Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria], and Alliance Defending Freedom".

The Association of Patrons and Trustees of Catholic Schools said Catholic school ethos must be accommodated to take account of the “constitutionally protected right of patrons to run their schools from a faith-based perspective”.

Note that the interests of pupils, nominally catholic or otherwise, don't enter into it compared with the supposed right of patrons to do whatever they want and get the taxpayer to pay for it.

Hotblack Desiato

Disheartening. The govt set (several years back) an extremely unambitious target of 400 multi-d schools by 2030 but has no plan how to get there, appears content to let the RCC frustrate the process and allows FUD to rule the day while providing no proper information to parents.

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2023/03/14/fear-distrust-hidden-agendas-how-school-divestment-unravelled-in-one-suburb/

The Irish Times spoke to parents in favour of divestment and parents against. Despite their very different views, there was unanimity on one point: the process was badly managed and lacked the rigour and engagement needed to bring about change.

Last November, the principal of Scoil Áine wrote to parents and guardians. “If the schools divest, the plan for this campus would be to have a multidenominational, co-ed school and a Catholic co-ed school on the same campus as separate entities,” she said.

“There is no road as to how this will be achieved, and we have received no answers to our questions from the Department of Education. There is no plan, except to decide to divest first and then see how the reconfiguration can be managed.”

Parents were then asked, in the same letter, to vote yes or no on the question: “Do you want to divest?”

That survey ultimately yielded a 17 per cent vote in favour of divestment, with 83 per cent voting against.

Parents were told they had to first decide on divestment and that a new patron would take over within less than a year. But they didn’t have any details of how, in practice, this would work.

If the school wanted to strangle the process at birth they couldn't have done it better. Which presumably is what they wanted...

“There was no idea of what we were voting on,” says Kathy, who voted against divestment. She says, through no fault of the school or parents, much of the opposition was centred on the “total lack of transparency, planning and information”, rather than the issues at hand.

Niamh, who supported divestment, was critical that potential multidenominational patrons were not invited to provide information.

Parents also said the entire parish should have been surveyed, including parents with preschool-aged children as well as those with children currently attending one of the schools. The Department of Education, however, declined to fund a professional survey, deciding instead that communication with parents would be through the facilitator and an email address at the department.

Bob and his wife, who were are among the parents who wanted change, found that public meetings quickly became highly divisive.

“Unfounded fears were raised about operational matters and nobody was on hand to provide correct, unbiased information, so a vacuum formed,” he says. “Tensions were high and we felt completely intimidated from giving the view of our family. We thought we would at least get a vote and that is where we would raise our hands, but the facilitator . . . said there was no need for a vote.”

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, Labour spokesperson on education and a local TD, as well as his constituency colleague, Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan, both say that, if someone wished to design a process for reconfiguration that failed, it would look like this.

So how does the Dept of Education justify its standing over this farce and apparent willingness to frustrate the achievement of (very unambitious but explicit) government policy goals?

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/2023/03/17/school-divestment-plan-is-not-working/

Sir, – Your article “‘Fear, distrust, tension’: How school divestment unravelled in one suburb” raises some critical issues about the failings of the Government’s schools divestment programme. This programme commits to delivering 400 multidenominational schools by 2030, which is highly unlikely to be achieved. Last year, only one school divested patronage from the Catholic Church, and the Minister for Education has not published any updates on the progress of the programme, and nor has she set out goals for how it will be achieved. Further, 400 is simply an arbitrary number, with no basis other than the optics of providing more choice to parents.

It is interesting to note that all education stakeholders agree that change is needed to meet the growing demand for multi-denominational schools, yet this article shows that the Government has failed to provide any guidelines for how to bring about this change. It is shocking that such an important process can be left to fail through ineptitude, where parents and small communities are being left to figure things out for themselves. The result of this is that parents in these situations are opting to retain the known and the familiar over the unknown. It is also quite bizarre that the State is not utilising its own decision-making powers, and instead is using the outputs of a survey of parents within the local communities to decide whether or not a school should be divested. This writer is not aware of any other aspects of the programme for government where the Government has devolved decision-making in this way.

The Government now needs to put in place a viable and realistic programme for how to achieve a secular education system that is suitable for a modern Republic. Almost 90 per cent of Irish primary schools are still under the patronage of the Catholic Church, which no longer reflects the diversity of the Irish population. The 2016 census showed that 78.3 per cent of people were Catholic and almost 10 per cent identified as having no religion. The percentage of non-religious has been growing steadily over the last number of years, and it is widely anticipated that there will be a significant increase when the 2022 census results are published later this year. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has called on Ireland to amend laws which hinder a child’s right to education based on religious or “ethos” grounds, as schools are legally allowed to refuse admission of students not belonging to their religious denomination if they can prove such refusal is necessary to maintain the ethos of the school. Thus far, the Government appears to have ignored the UN’s recommendations. The Government’s plan to address religious control of schools has been an utter failure. The Humanist Association of Ireland has written to the Minister several times on this matter and has been met with silence. The State should move without further delay to set out its plans to implement an education system that meets the needs of our entire society. – Yours, etc,

JILLIAN BRENNAN,

CEO,

Humanist Association

of Ireland,

Dún Laoghaire,

Co Dublin.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2023/05/02/religious-evangelism-soaks-into-every-pore-of-the-irish-school-curriculum/

Irish education is synonymous with religious evangelism. It soaks into every pore of the curriculum, from relationships and sexuality education (“puberty is a gift from God”) to literacy, music and art. A recent reading exercise in a Co Cork primary school asked pupils to unscramble words such as “crucify”, “tomb”, “cross”, “angel” and “disciple”. This is the integrated curriculum in action, a form of subliminal messaging designed to reinforce daily periods of formal religious instruction. Sacramental preparation ties up teachers for weeks at a time, whatever their personal beliefs, while prayers, masses, visits from clergy and diocesan inspections are par for the course.

A drive that began under former minister for education Ruairí Quinn in 2011 sought to transfer some schools to more inclusive forms of patronage. The divestment initiative, since rebranded as schools reconfiguration for diversity, quickly ran in to the sand. The wheels have been spinning ever since. Ninety-five per cent of Irish national schools remain firmly under the control of religious organisations, with 89 per cent run by the Catholic Church. Fewer than 20 schools have changed patron since the process began.

The handful of success stories have also come at a price. Bishops are now being paid rent under lengthy lease arrangements for each school they hand over. The sums involved have not been disclosed. This is despite the recommendation from the advisory group to the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism that the State take a “cost-neutral” approach to any transfers of patronage, given the limited resources available at primary level. These leases will saddle taxpayers with a recurring bill for every school that reconfigures, without adding a single additional place.

More worrying than this wasteful spending, however, is the flawed “school choice” model itself. Human and constitutional rights are universal. The ability to effectively exercise them should not come down to car ownership, geography and luck. Families are expected to either endure a regime of coercive evangelism at their local school, or try to access their rights elsewhere in a multi-denominational one. And the Government’s 2030 divestment target – should it eventually be met – will only increase the provision of multi-denominational schools from 5 per cent to 13 per cent of all school stock.

This strategy is not credible, sustainable or cost-effective. In an increasingly pluralistic society, it is simply not acceptable to wilfully disregard rights that are enjoyed in every other sphere of our lives.

Education Equality believes that religious faith formation should be removed from the curriculum in State-funded schools and instead offered on an opt-in basis outside core hours. This could be implemented quickly through primary legislation without the need for a referendum. It would benefit families as well as teachers, who are currently contractually obliged to impart their patron’s programme even if it runs contrary to their own conscience.

We had a productive engagement with former minister for education, Richard Bruton, that helped to end the so-called Baptism barrier in school admissions. The current Minister, Norma Foley, has been unavailable to meet us to date. Our door remains open.

When it comes to education, Ireland remains a theocracy masquerading as a republic. A place where the rights of children and teachers alike are more notional than real. And where the long-troubled relationship between Church and State is increasingly a marriage of inconvenience.

David Graham is communications officer with Education Equality

I'm not one bit surprised that Foley has not met with Education Equality. Education should never have been given to an FF minister. Foley appears quite happy to assist the Catholic Church in their rearguard action.

Hotblack Desiato

Two letters in response to the above:

A chara, – I would like to disabuse David Graham of his belief that Catholic ethos schools endure, tolerate and treat our pupils as outsiders (“Religious evangelism soaks into every pore of the Irish school curriculum”, Opinion & Analysis, May 2nd).

As principal of a senior urban primary school for boys, we welcome, embrace and treasure each and every one of our pupils. Our pupils come from Africa, Asia, eastern and western Europe and South America, as well as from Irish backgrounds. We have welcomed Rohingya, Syrian and Ukrainian refugees and indeed we welcome all children regardless of their religion or lack of it. Just recently we have supported our Muslim pupils throughout their Ramadan fast and celebrated their Eid on its completion.

We do not isolate “opted-out” pupils but instead provide them with work in other curricular areas in the absence of any other supervision options. Furthermore we acknowledge that while sacramental preparation can be intrusive, we try to mitigate against any negative impact on pupils’ education by arranging cover for the class teacher and I can inform him that we have not had a diocesan inspection in over a decade.

Finally, while not being fully aware of the context, it would appear to me that the reading lesson he referred to was actually a religion lesson, as I am not aware of any current primary English reading book or workbook which refers to the crucifixion.

In his article, Mr Graham used language such as “discrimination” which is inflammatory and casts aspersions on the great work being done in primary schools which I would argue are some of the most inclusive places in the country. In my opinion, his ire would be better directed at the policymakers rather than the schools that create safe and welcoming spaces for all children on a daily basis. – Is mise,

JOHN KELLY,

Principal,

Bishop Foley

National School,

Carlow.

Sir, – Responding to David Graham’s critique of a dominant religious ethos in schools (“Religious evangelism soaks into every pore of the Irish school curriculum”, Opinion & Analysis, May 2nd), John Kelly argues for the diversity and inclusivity of his Catholic primary school for boys (Letters, May 5th). However, he may wish to update the school’s mission statement which holds “a philosophy of life inspired by belief in God and in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ” and “promotes the formation of the pupils in the Catholic Faith”. Furthermore, isn’t a school for boys only discriminatory in some way? – Yours, etc,

TRICIA CUSACK,

Greystones,

Co Wicklow.

Hotblack Desiato

More

Sir, – Education Equality has procured a legal opinion from senior counsel that states that, where a child opts out of attending religious instruction, the child is expressly excused from attending the classroom. The right to opt out is not met by insisting that the child remain in attendance during religious instruction, even where the child is excused from active participation. It states that a court would not accept that the opt-out is effective in circumstances where the presence of the child in the class remains compulsory. It would not accept a defence from a school that it was unable to make arrangements for a child to be moved temporarily to another room during religious instruction.

Parents who protest to the Department of Education that their children’s constitutional right is being breached are advised that it is up to each individual school to decide how it facilitates the protection of this right.

When parents complain to schools on this issue, they are advised that they do not have the resources to provide a real and effective opt out. And who provides the resources? The Department of Education.

Advocates for religious education fought tooth and nail against the repeal of the “baptism barrier”, a clearly discriminatory provision. Schools can still discriminate against children seeking admission if they are of the view that they might undermine their ethos.

Alan Hynes (Letters, May 5th) complains that Education Equality’s “vision is often for a uniform education system”. He is aware, I presume, that 95 per cent of our publicly funded primary schools are under religious patronage?

He bemoans “the Admission to Schools Act 2018, by which Catholic schools alone are forbidden to prioritise the enrolment of children of our faith”. He is arguing that Catholic schools are being discriminated against (presumably on religious grounds?) because they cannot discriminate against children on religious grounds, whereas other State-funded minority faith schools can.

The 2018 Act introduced a requirement for schools’ admission policies to provide details of their arrangements in respect of students who do not want to attend religious instruction. Most schools fail in this obligation. Instead of providing such details, policies typically merely direct parents to make an appointment with the school principal to discuss the matter.

The State and schools are complicit in breaching children’s clearly enshrined constitutional right. – Yours, etc,

ROB SADLIER,

Human Rights Officer,

Education Equality,

Rathfarnham,

Dublin 16.

Sir, – It is 25 years since the Belfast Agreement, and it is shameful that people are still being intimidated out of their homes because of their perceived religious background.

It is shaming that some areas are still under threats from paramilitaries. It is shaming that we still have the so-called peace walls.

It is estimated that our segregated society costs us over a billion pounds a year – separate schools, separate housing estates and separate community facilities.

Every day we hear of more serious expenditure cuts to be made in every Northern Ireland government department.

How much could be achieved if we did not have to cover the costs of segregation.

It is time for more integrated education and more integrated housing and community facilities. – Yours, etc,

MARGARET MARSHALL,

Belfast. 

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2023/05/31/catholic-churchs-near-monopoly-control-of-primary-schools-should-end-holly-cairns-says/

The Catholic Church’s “near monopoly control” on primary schools is “like something from another era” and cannot be allowed to continue, Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns has said.

Ms Cairns said the programme to divest schools from the Catholic Church is “clearly not working” with just one such case last year.

Smartphone 1

It will continue for as the majority of parents are happy for it to continue

Hotblack Desiato

The majority of parents are NOT happy for it to continue as repeated surveys over many years have shown.

Hotblack Desiato

Good letter from the other day. The divestment process is a farce, designed to fail.

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/2023/06/06/schools-and-patronage-system/

Sir, – With respect to the divestment and transfer of school patronage, Sheila Deegan maintains that “school communities themselves don’t always reach a view that a change in school patronage is appropriate” (Letters, May 2nd). It might be worth reflecting on the process schools must go through before a change in patronage can take place. As it stands, Catholic bishops are asked to select schools for potential transfer. Boards of management are then asked – by the bishop who appointed them – if they want to consider giving the school they manage away to another patron. Staff are then asked – by their employer – if they want a different employer. Then parents of children in the school are asked – by a facilitator, but with the patron’s representative present – if they are happy with the patron, or if they would like a change, and they are asked to engage on this question publicly, in front of other members of the school community, who may or may not share their views. So the system is set up at best to make the transfer of patronage very difficult, and at worst to deliberately obstruct it.

Ms Deegan goes on to speculate that the other reason for slow change is because we are we not sure what the alternative might look like, so I would respectfully suggest that she visits one of over 100 Educate Together primary schools in Ireland – the first having been established some 50 years ago – to see what a multidenominational coeducational, child-centred alternative looks like. – Yours, etc,

GARY DOYLE,

Straffan,

Co Kildare. 

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2023/06/30/dublins-catholic-archdiocese-challenges-tds-who-criticised-slow-pace-of-change-in-catholic-control-of-schools/

Speaking in the Dáil on Thursday Labour spokesman on Education Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said “the archdiocese can press all the buttons it wants and then get what it wants, which is the status quo” and that “these processes are being set up to fail, not by the Minister, but by those with a vested interested in preserving the status quo”.

The Dublin Bay North TD said “those whose agenda is to keep the status quo” knew “what to say, and they know about information and disinformation. They know how to shrug their shoulders when questions are asked. They know about timelines being truncated so that people feel under pressure to make a decision. They know that the issue of the mixing of genders is being overlapped with the divestment from one patron to another”.

Responding, Minister for Education Ms Foley said: “I want to be very clear at the outset. There is to be no bullying or coercion here.” She acknowledged that “in some instances there was no desire for change, and in others, there was huge desire for change. I absolutely accept that there must be a balanced approach.” She recalled that “the programme for Government contains a commitment to expand the plurality of our schools to reflect the full breadth of society and improve parental choice.” Among those commitments was “to achieve the target of at least 400 multidenominational primary schools by 2030”, she said.

There is coercion - parents forced to send their kids to single-sex catholic schools because that's all there is in their area.

That target of 400 schools by 2030 is extremely unambitious - but even then they're going to undershoot it by miles.

FF ministers for education have always been more than happy to do the catholic church's bidding.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2023/10/31/only-catholics-need-apply-is-religion-a-barrier-to-getting-a-job-as-a-primary-teacher/

Luke Lennon has been teaching in a multi-denominational school in Greystones, Co Wicklow, for ten years. He loves the job, but it is a long commute from his rural home where he lives with his wife, a nurse, and three children.

“With costs rising, I thought that we could save time and money if I could work in a more local school,” says Lennon, who teaches at Greystones Educate Together National School. “When a job came up in a Catholic school, I applied, but I was told that the religious cert was necessary. That was the moment when I realised that I could not apply for the majority of teaching jobs within a 30km radius of my house.”

With almost 90 per cent of schools under Catholic patronage, many teacher-training courses advise students that taking the certificate in religious studies – known as the CRS – is needed to boost their chances of getting a job.

“It is legitimate, as the law says they can do it,” says John Boyle, INTO general secretary, who notes that the Constitution gives primacy to religious education. “The Constitution give primacy to religious education, so if a teacher doesn’t want to teach it, they can teach in a multi-denominational school.”

Yeah, you can, but you've just excluded yourself from employment in 95% of schools.

Teachers actually pay money for that sort of representation? ffs

Actually the constitution does not give primacy to religious-run education at all. It states that the parents are the primary educators of the child and the right to not "attend" religious instruction is explicit. Of course in reality almost all pupils in 95% of primary schools are obliged to attend, even if they are not participating.

Hotblack Desiato

Definitely not a welcome development imho...

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-41307634.html

Since 2022, however, the college has been home to a new school, one with an ultra-Catholic ethos most people in Ireland, including students at our Catholic state schools, wouldn’t recognise. Citing traditional Catholic values and funded by local donations, parent fees, and money from a staunchly conservative foundation in America, Mater Dei Academy is private and independent, with close to 50 students currently enrolled.

Founded in 2020, the school was located on Pope’s Quay before moving to its current premises at Farranferris which is leased by Northside Community Enterprises (NCE), a registered charity part-funded by Tusla, and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

Wait... we're paying, at least in part, for the lease of the premises?

Why?

If they're not in the state system and subject to its rules and protections then they shouldn't get a cent.

On its website, the school is described as “a new paradigm for independent, Catholic second-level education in Ireland” which is “under the patronage of Our Lady of Knock, Queen of Ireland.” 

Pretty sure that's not on the Dept. of Education's list... 🙄

Mater Dei has more than ideological roots in America, however. It is supported by a combination of donations, parent contributions and philanthropy. This philanthropy includes funding from the Saints and Scholars Foundation, based in Virginia in the US. The president of the Saints and Scholars Foundation, Connie Marshner, has been central in protests against sex education in America.

The foundation’s website states that the need for classical Catholic education is evidenced in the last two referenda here.

People won't vote the way we want so the answer is... oddball schools funded by rightwing US money?

Predictably, Mater Dei Academy offers nothing comparable to the State’s prescribed Relationship and Sex Education curriculum. Its science curriculum is vastly different to what is taught in mainstream school, moving from what the school describes as the ‘logical progression’ from earth and planetary science, on to God’s creation in biology, chemistry and finally to the nature and properties of God’s matter in physics. 

The RCC does accept the teaching of evolution, of course. I wouldn't be certain that this crowd do, though.

Father Brian McKevitt OP, a teacher at the school, has spoken publicly about the ‘cowardice’ in the Catholic church when it comes to speaking out about how the gospel is being twisted, and the destruction of Christian civilisation. He announces in one of his sermons online that if our civilisation was even half “rational”, many of our politicians and our journalists would “be locked up either in prisons or lunatic asylums.” He refers to the result of the abortion referendum as an “evil.” Joking about a bishop’s description of the gay marriage referendum as “a wake-up call,” he complains the “whole country went back to sleep.” 

and this man is teaching children?

Mater Dei is also the only European member of the Institute of Catholic Liberal Education (ICLE), an international accreditation body for independent Catholic schools, a body which promotes books on its website that reference ‘culture wars’ brought about by ‘gender ideology.’ 

Mick Barry, TD for the Cork North-Central constituency, has concerns about the funding and ethos behind Mater Dei.

"I would be concerned about any school in Ireland which is being funded from outside the State by an organisation so closely associated with the Christian right. The US-based Saints and Scholars website includes several alarming statements such as ‘On the issue of gender theory or transgenderism, Pope Francis has been unequivocal comparing it to nuclear weapons.’ 

“Is this what gay children are taught in the Mater Dei school in Cork? Does the school think that this kind of stuff is helpful for trans students and their mental health?” 

Really I don't think it's good enough that Dept. of Education can in effect ignore this place, and what the hell are Tusla and Dept of Children doing part-funding the lease?

I'd also be concerned what an equivalent evangelical or islamist school might wish to get up to and of course they can point to the likes of this place as a precedent. None of this is in the interests of children and they have no choice in where their parents enrol them.

Peregrinus

I share your concern. But, while the language used in the Examiner report is ambiguous, I think the position regarding the premises may be that Tusla/the Dept of Children and Youth Affairs may be on the landlord side of the lease, rather than the tenant side (or they may be funding NCE, who is the landlord of the premises).

In other words, the State or State-funded agencies may be letting these premises to the school, and receiving rent from the school, rather than contributing to or subsidising the rent.

robindch

and this man is teaching children?

"Father Brian McKevitt OP, a teacher at the school" - presumably the same Brian McKevitt OP who produces "Alive" and who, I believe, is the brother of Michael McKevitt, the now-dead leader of the Real IRA who was found liable for the 1998 Omagh bombing.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/former-real-ira-leader-michael-mckevitt-dies-aged-71-1.4449062

Hotblack Desiato

The editor of Alive! calling for politicians and journalists to be locked up in lunatic asylums is really rather ironic.

robindch

Further irony that the buffoon who publishes "Alive" had a brother who was a convicted murderer.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/2024/03/04/schools-and-religious-instruction/

Sir, – Whatever rights may emerge from any amendments to the Constitution as a result of the upcoming referendums, people should not be under the illusion that the State will automatically vindicate such rights simply by virtue of the fact that they would be, in theory, protected by the Constitution.

For example, Article 44.2.4 of the Constitution refers to “the right of any child to attend a school receiving public money without attending religious instruction at that school”.

This clear constitutional right is systemically flouted every day across Ireland.

This state of affairs has proven decidedly, to use the mot du jour, “durable”.

In fact, it has endured for decades. Successive governments have sat idly by while this constitutional right has been routinely breached in schools which the State funds. The current Government is no different, with little evidence for hope from the Opposition benches.

This situation has been allowed to continue, despite the fact that the Department of Education is well aware that schools are not meeting their constitutional obligations.

Please save us the platitudes about “cherishing” and “protecting”.

All too often a constitutional right is aspirational at best. – Yours, etc,

ROB SADLIER,

Human Rights Officer,

Education Equality,

Rathfarnham,

Dublin 16.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2024/03/07/new-primary-school-curriculum-the-changes-on-the-way-and-what-they-mean-for-children/

That sounds like a lot to squeeze into the school day. Surely some subjects will lose out?

Yes, the amount of time dedicated to religion will reduce from about two and a half hours to two hours a week. Irish will also reduce from three and a half hours to three in English-medium schools. 

Half an hour less a week. Whoop.

If we’re all about preparing children for the 21st century, why is so much time spent on religion?

School patrons have a legal right to design their own religious programmes in accordance with the ethos of their school. The move to allocate less time to religion has drawn criticism from both those who want religion out of the school day, and those who feel it is being downgraded. Policymakers argue that they are seeking to strike the right balance.

Pathetic stuff. Get the churches out of the schools once and for all. These twats will be giving out about the long overdue changes to sex education, too.