Primary schools should be run by experts not parents, say principals

SCHOOLS should be run by properly trained experts rather than parents and volunteers who are forced into places on management boards, a principals’ group said yesterday.

The Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN) told the Oireachtas Committee on Education and Science that there must be a radical overhaul of primary school boards. They asked that the cross-party committee recommend that Education Minister Mary Hanafin set up an independent review body.

Currently all primary school boards must have a representative of teachers, parents and the school patron, in most cases the local bishop.

But IPPN director Sean Cottrell said the system established 30 years ago was designed for a different era.

“Boards are not properly equipped with the skills, expertise or training needed to operate effectively, they have to operate in a completely new and ever-more regulated environment,” he said.

He said there have been seven new pieces of education legislation in recent years and a series of initiatives have been adopted, from special needs to information technology.

The IPPN told the committee it is unfair and irresponsible to place volunteers in a role where they are asked to make important decisions affecting children’s education without the necessary training or support.

Mr Cottrell likened the school board system to harnessing a team of Clydesdales to a 40-foot trailer and asking them to negotiate their way safely home along a four-lane motorway.