Quinn will announce Church to lose school control
Aibreán 2, 2013
‘Clear demand’ for greater diversity cannot be ignored, insists minister
THE Catholic Church is being told to hand over another 23 primary schools in an historic shake-up of the eduction system designed to offer parents more choice.
Department of Education surveys in 43 towns and suburbs over the past six months found that two-thirds of parents wanted a more diverse range of schools – meaning a reduction of the church’s overwhelming dominance of school patronage.
The results of the consultation with 10,000 parents on future control of local schools can be revealed today, with Education Minister Ruairi Quinn pointing out that a majority of areas surveyed had shown sufficient parental demand for wider choice of schools. He insisted: “We cannot ignore this call for change.”
Meanwhile, the fate of 1,000 small rural schools hangs in the balance as they are considered too small to satisfy an “optimum” threshold for value for money. A new report, to be published soon, will recommend that the optimum future size for Irish schools is four teachers and 80 students or more.
Mr Quinn, who will today address two teachers’ unions, has been accused of leaving thousands of pupils and parents in limbo if their school does not meet the minimum size.
Mr Quinn is now overseeing a period of massive change within the schools system as the issues of patronage and small rural schools both come to a head. His department now wants detailed proposals from the bishops on divesting schools within six months, in a significant shift towards multidenominational education. But early transfers do not appear on the cards after a senior Catholic Church educationalist questioned the calculations involved.
Surveys in 38 areas were undertaken in January-February among parents of children under the age of 12. They were targeted at towns and suburbs where there is a relatively stable population and, therefore, little prospect of an additional school being built.
The demand for a change of patronage at 23 of these 38 primary schools is on top of five schools around the country which were previously identified by the department, and where the Church has already been told to transfer control. The department will now be contacting the Catholic patron in each of the newly identified areas to request that they consider the options.
Mr Quinn said he was confident of a generous response from the existing patron – the local Catholic bishop in each of the areas – to “the clear demand for change”. In practical terms, it means that in any of these areas, where there may be several local Catholic schools, mergers will be necessary to free up a building for a school under different patronage.
Where change is favoured, the multi-denominational Educate Together is the top choice and has been nominated as the patron for 25 schools, including in the five areas previously identified.
Two towns will see the establishment of English language, new-style Community National Schools, run by the local Vocational Education Committee. And in one area, an Irish language school under the patronage of An Foras Patrunachta is recommended. Most of the areas surveyed already had a Gaelscoil option for parents deemed capable of accommodating demand for Irish language medium schools.
Paul Rowe, of Educate Together, said the results clearly showed demand for diversity of school type exists across the country.
Conclusions
However, while 10,000 responses were gathered, Fr Michael Drumm of the Catholic Schools Partnership said the participation rates of parents in the surveys were low. He said that within each area the responses only varied from 13pc to 26pc and advised against drawing conclusions.
He said there was a need for much closer analysis of the figures and consultation with communities on the ground For example, Fr Drumm said in Ballina, where the department is recommending an Educate Together school, parents of only 2.2pc of existing primary pupils expressed a preference for an English-language multi-denominational school. And he warned the proposals could involve much greater displacement for pupils in an existing school than those the department is seeking to accommodate.
The Catholic Church controls about 2,840, or 90pc, of almost 3,200 primary schools in Ireland. While the 28 schools earmarked for change represent less than 1pc of this, developments over the coming months will be closely watched as they could mark a watershed in Church-state relations over school patronage.
The department set the minimum enrolment sufficient for a four-teacher school as the benchmark for deciding on whether there was sufficient demand for change. A total of 10,715 valid responses were received during the surveys, and were checked against data held by the Department of Social Protection to ensure that the children listed were linked to PPS numbers given.
It followed the five pilot surveys, which were conducted last October and November – all of which showed a demand for Educate Together schools.
www.independent.ie
Bishops have six months to set out plans for school patronage change
Aibreán 2, 2013
Catholic bishops in 23 areas across the State have six months to provide detailed proposals on how they plan on divesting primary schools of their patronage.
The move comes on the publication of a survey on parental preferences for primary school patronage published today by the Department of Education.
Out of 38 survey areas selected according to specific demographic criteria, 23 have demonstrated demand for “an immediate change in the existing school patronage”, according to a Department of Education statement.
Among the 23 were Dublin 6, Malahide, Palmerstown, Portmarnock , Rush, Tuam, Westport, Ballina, Clonmel, Passage West, Dungarvan, Fermoy, Kells, Killarney, Leixlip, Loughrea, Cobh, Nenagh, New Ross, Shannon, Celbridge and Carrigaline.
One area, Birr in Co Offaly, showed sufficient demand for a Gaelscoil. Several others specified VEC patronage as their preferred option. There was insufficient demand in areas such as Wicklow, Skerries, Carrick-on-Suir and Roscommon, among others.
The level of demand required to support change was set at the minimum enrolment required for a four- teacher school, somewhere between 80 and 100 pupils. A total of 10,715 valid survey responses were received.The majority of parents who took part in the survey named Educate Together as their preferred patron.
Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn said: “We cannot ignore this call for change”. Fr Michael Drumm, chairperson of the Catholic Schools Partnership, said the figures needed closer analysis.
www.irishtimes.com
Comhdháil ar Litríocht na nÓg
Aibreán 2, 2013
Cén tionchar atá ag mionteangacha ar nós na Gaeilge ar ár dtuiscintí ar chultúr na n-óg in Éirinn agus san Eoraip?
Pléifear an cheist seo ag an tríú Comhdháil ar Litríocht agus ar Chultúr na nÓg ón 20-21 Meán Fómhair 2013 in Institiúid Oideachais Marino, Baile Átha Cliath.
Díreofar ar stair chultúr Gaelach na n-óg, ar an suíomh reatha, agus ar dhúshláin na todhchaí. Tá sé mar aidhm ag an Tríú Comhdháil ar Litríocht agus ar Chultúr na nÓg plé a spreagadh i measc oideachasóirí, scoláirí, foilsitheoirí, aistritheoirí, ealaíontóirí den uile chineál agus daoine eile a bhfuil spéis acu i litríocht agus i gcultúr na n-óg.
Iarrtar ar dhaoine a bhfuil spéis acu caint a thabhairt ar aon ghné de litríocht nó dechultúr na n-óg, teideal na cainte agus achoimre ar an ábhar a sheoladh chuig litriochtnanog13@gmail.com roimh 5in ar an 14 Meitheamh, 2013.
Minister for Education & Skills announces 23 towns will see change in patronage of primary schools
Aibreán 2, 2013
Report on surveys of parental preferences for primary school patronage published
The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D., has published the results of primary school patronage surveys from 38 towns across the country.
These surveys were undertaken as part of the Minister’s response to the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in Primary schools and are aimed at establishing if parents want a more diverse range of primary school patrons in their area.
Detailed analysis of the surveys shows that there is sufficient parental demand in 23 out of the 38 areas to support an immediate change in the existing school patronage. 22 of the areas will see the establishment of an English language multi-denominational school and one area will see an Irish language school established. Parents expressed a preference for an Educate Together patron in 20 of the areas and the other two towns will see Community National Schools established, run by the local VEC. 30 of the 38 areas surveyed already have a gaelscoil option available for parents.
Welcoming the publication of the surveys, Minister Quinn said, “This is another significant step on the road to providing a plurality of education and real choice for parents in the type of primary school they wish to send their children to. We are confident of a generous response from the existing patrons to the clear demand for change in more than 60% of the areas surveyed this year. “
The level of demand deemed sufficient to support a recommendation for a change in ethos of school was set at the minimum enrolment sufficient for a four teacher school. The outcomes and recommendations were verified by the New Schools’ Establishment Group which has responsibility for overseeing the process. While there is a cohort of parents in the remaining 15 out of the 38 areas who would support a change in patronage, the surveys show there is not sufficient demand at present to ensure that a school of different patronage would be viable. However, it is recognised that this may change in the future, at which point the position could be re-examined.
“There is also a strong demonstration through the surveys that many parents are happy with the current schools on offer and I think this reflects well on the education services provided by our existing patrons,” added Minister Quinn.
The surveys were undertaken for four weeks from the 14th of January. Parents of 0-12 year olds in each area were invited to participate. The towns were chosen as they had a relatively stable population of between 5,000 and 20,000 and therefore little prospect of any new schools opening in coming years to cater for demographic demand.
A total of 10,715 valid survey responses were received, the vast majority of which were filled in on-line. More than 2,000 responses were deemed invalid as they did not contain a PPS number, the address of the respondent or their name. Responses were further checked against data held by the Department of Social Protection to ensure that the children listed in each response are linked to the PPS number given and the relevant survey area.
Late last year, surveys were carried out in five pilot areas and these showed there was parental demand for a change in school patronage in each area. “Almost two thirds of the areas surveyed as part of this process, including the pilot phase, have shown sufficient parental demand for a wider choice of school patron. We cannot ignore this call for change. We will now be contacting the Catholic patron in each of the areas where we have identified this demand to request they now consider options for reconfiguring schools under their management in order to allow the transfer of a school to a new patron,” concluded Minister Quinn.
Copies of the report will be sent to all primary school patrons in each of the 38 areas. The Catholic Bishop or Archbishop in the 23 areas where demand for change has been confirmed will be asked to submit an interim response within three months and a final response with detailed proposals on divesting a school in six months.
The full report from the surveys is available at: http://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Policy-Reports/Report-on-the-surveys-regarding-parental-preferences-on-primary-school-patronage.pdf
Ballina: Educate Together
Ballinasloe: Insufficient demand
Bandon: Insufficient demand
Birr: An Foras Patrunachta
Buncrana: Insufficient demand
Carrick-on-Suir: Insufficient demand
Carrigaline: Cork VEC
Celbridge: Kildare VEC
Clonmel: Educate Together
Cobh: Educate Together
Dublin 6: Educate Together
Dungarvan: Educate Together
Edenderry: Insufficient demand
Enniscorthy: Insufficient demand
Fermoy: Educate Together
Kells: Educate Together
Killarney: Educate Together
Leixlip: Educate Together
Longford: Insufficient demand
Loughrea: Educate Together
Malahide: Educate Together
Monaghan: Insufficient demand
Nenagh: Educate Together
New Ross: Educate Together
Palmerstown: Educate Together
Passage West: Educate Together
Portmarnock: Educate Together
Roscommon: Insufficient demand
Roscrea: Insufficient demand
Rush: Educate Together
Shannon: Educate Together
Skerries: Insufficient demand
Thurles: Insufficient demand
Tipperary: Insufficient demand
Tuam: Educate Together
Westport: Educate Together
Wicklow: Insufficient demand
Youghal: Insufficient demand
