Analysis: few issues in Irish education are as intricate and complex as the question of school patronage
The Programme for Government 2020 states that a citizen's assembly will be held on education. We can expect that the role of Church involvement in the provision of publicly funded schools will inevitably be a key point of discussion at any such assembly.
Few matters are more intricate or contested in educational and school practice in the Republic of Ireland than school patronage, so what is a patron responsible for in schools? Patrons are accountable for three areas: governance, property/finance and ethos.
The Department of Education database shows that there are 3,123 schools at primary level, each of which have a respective patron. Some 95% of these schools (2,973) are denominational and only 5% (150) are inter/multi-denominational. Only three of the denominational schools are from outside of the Christian tradition (two Muslim and one Jewish).
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland in 2019, RTÉ Education Correspondent Emma O'Kelly reports on a small South Kerry primary school that has made history by becoming the first to transfer from Catholic to multi-denominational patronage.
The remaining 2,954 are Christian, but only 189 are from outside of the Roman Catholic tradition: 170 Church of Ireland, 17 Presbyterian, one Methodist, and one Quaker. The total number of primary schools under the patronage of the Roman Catholic Church at primary level is 2,765 (89%) schools.
This landscape is out of kilter with both jurisdictions across Europe and beyond and second level here, where 51% (372) and 49% (363) multi or inter-denominational. There is no non-denominational or secular school in the country of the 3,858 primary and second level schools. Advocacy group Atheist Ireland raised this with the State, calling for a commitment to establish "secular or non-denominational schools at primary and second level, and not merely multi-denominational schools."
The absence of secular or non-denominational schools raises more questions than answers. Take, for example, the success of recent Irish referenda or much of the media commentary surrounding the involvement of the Church in the provision of healthcare and education. All signs suggest that any role of the former in either of the latter is limping to its end.
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From RTÉ Prime Time in 2019, how and why school patronage is changing
But a particular strength of Irish educational provision is the primacy afforded to the family in the education of their child. This is enshrined in Article 42 of Bunreacht na hÉireann which promotes their "inalienable right and duty to provide, according to their means, for the religious, moral, intellectual, physical and social education of their children."
The article tasks the State with providing "educational facilities or institutions with due regard for the rights of parents, especially in the matter of religious and moral formation." It safeguards the right of families to refrain from enrolling their child in a school "established by the State, or any particular type of school designated by the State'' that would be "in violation of their conscience and lawful preference."
So are families dissatisfied with their local primary school today? A study commissioned by national bodies in Catholic education, and conducted by consulting firm Genesis, found high levels of satisfaction among parents of primary school-going children. The data shows that 78% of parents were either "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their school. Only 18% of parents felt "dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied." There was also no significant difference in satisfaction across regional or socio-economic lines.
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From Conversations from the Classroom, Seamus Mulconry from the Catholic Primary School Managerial Association and John Curtis from the Joint Managerial Body discuss the findings of the Genesis research report
These findings are useful when observing 'the schools reconfiguration for diversity process' rolled out by the Department of Education, in partnership with the Catholic church, which encountered opposition from communities. According to a report by RTÉ Education Correspondant Emma O'Kelly, the three reports into the process speak of communities "troubled by suspicions and lack of trust from an early stage."
From the 29 schools engaged in the process in Dublin alone, only one school in the Whitefriar area was agreeable to transfer of patronage to a Community National School. The report notes that parents who spoke at meetings "appeared to do so from entrenched positions." Fixed positions were strengthened by a lack of clarity about "what lay in store for the schools if they were to agree to a transfer of patronage" which contributed significantly to the process’s shortcomings.
From Department of Education, introduction to the schools reconfiguration process
Constructive dialogue requires interlocutors, subject matter, a recognition of one's positionality and prejudice in relation to the subject matter in question, and a willingness to arrive at a shared understanding or mutual agreement on the subject matter for the common good. Here, the subject matter is the characteristic spirit of schools. In defining the concept, Section 15 (2) (b) of the Education Act (1998) speaks of the ethos of schools as being "determined by the cultural, educational, religious, social, linguistic and spiritual values and traditions which inform and are characteristic of the objectives and conduct of the school."
The above principles carry the prerequisite that school communities develop greater literacy around their educational mission and vision if they are to make an informed decision as to whether one patron over another best meets the needs of the community which they serve. Recent efforts to increase the diversity of patrons challenge the viability of the State's aim to establish 400 multi-denominational primary schools by 2030.
While most citizens are in favour of increasing diversity of patrons, such favourability dissipates when faced with the transfer of patronage of their local primary school. This is a cautionary tale for anyone hedging their bets that a citizen assembly will deliver on this diversity.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
