Surveys on primary school patronage to begin
September 18, 2012
Surveys to find out if parents want more non-Catholic primary schools and which patron they would prefer are to begin within weeks.
In June, 44 areas were identified as needing a greater choice of school patronage. Education Minister Ruairi Quinn will announce soon which five of these are to be surveyed first. The local views will be gathered through surveys, most likely with a choice of responding on paper or online of parents of children already in primary school and those with sons or daughters not yet attending schools in the areas concerned. In order to avoid duplication or having the surveys distorted by interested parties, anyone completing the survey will have to provide personal information on a confidential basis, to include name, address, and PPS numbers.
The 44 areas include many with up to eight primary schools but which have little or no non-Catholic provision to cater for the diversity of local families. Among the established patrons to have applied in most areas are the local city or county vocational education committees (VECs), all-Irish patron body An Foras Pátrúnachta, and multi-denominational schools group Educate Together. It is understood that expressions of interest were received in relation to two or three areas in Cork from humanist groups. The Redeemed Christian Church of God, which previously sought to be patron to two new schools in Dublin, has also indicated it wants to run a number of schools. However, it is unclear if either group meets the criteria for being a patron and whether they will be included in the list of patrons offered to parents in those areas. Those choices will be listed in a survey to be conducted among parents following the distribution of information by the Department of Education.
Parents will be asked if they are satisfied with the current choice of patrons in their area and, if not, which of the patron bodies interested in running schools in their area they would prefer. While each applicant patron has submitted a short description of who they are and what they propose to set up, they are being asked to sign up to a voluntary code banning leaflets, advertising or public meetings that could give them an advantage over other groups. The initial surveys will be carried out within weeks in five of the 44 areas, to identify any potential difficulties with the methodology, and the remaining 39 will be surveyed in November. The timescale for any resultant hand-overs is uncertain but the survey outcomes will be discussed in early 2013 among the Catholic school communities where a need for a more diverse mix of patronage is identified. A key consideration would be which school or schools might close in each area, and whether their pupils and staff would be amalgamated entirely with one neighbouring school or distributed among the other Catholic schools.
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