Close consultation needed on many handover possibilities

KILLARNEY is one of a number of areas chosen to highlight the different possibilities for the handover of Catholic schools for primary education with a different type of religious ethos.

Not unlike most of the other 43 towns listed by the Department of Education with potential for the Catholic diocese to divest its patronage of some of its schools, all the 12 schools in Killarney, or within a 5km radius, are of the Catholic denomination.

This kind of limited choice for parents of the kind of school where they want their children educated is what has led to the exercise being developed by the hierarchy, notwithstanding the inclusiveness of Catholic schools over the past decade.

According to the department’s figures, the 12 schools concerned had 2,211 pupils in September 2008 and 91 classroom teachers.

But taking a series of scenarios in which different levels of interest in non-denominational or multi-denominational schooling were expressed, a range of demands for various-sized schools emerges.

If, for example, just 15% of the student cohort wished for non-Catholic provision, around 332 pupils would need to be catered for. Only two of the existing 12 schools in the greater Killarney area already cater for that number of children.

But if the parents of 40% to half of the existing pupils in the area were to opt for a change in the ethos of their children’s schools, the requirement would rise to between 884 and more than 1,100 places.

This represents up to double the capacity of the town’s largest school and so, if there was such demand locally, could require the handover of two or more schools from the Diocese of Kerry.

Likewise, in Tramore, Co Waterford, all five primary schools with more than 1,500 pupils are under Catholic patronage. A 40% demand for alternative provision would require 22 classrooms, currently only capable of being provided at one of the existing schools, but the 389 places needed to match a 15% requirement for change could be provided at either of two schools.

The other areas for which more detailed analyses are set out are: Arklow, Co Wicklow, Dublin 4, Dublin 6 & 8, Portmarnock/Malahide, Whitehall (all Archdiocese of Dublin); Athlone, Co Westmeath (Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise and Diocese of Elphin); Ballinasloe, Co Galway (Dioceses of Clonfert and Archdiocese of Tuam); Birr, Co Offaly (Diocese of Killaloe).

The department said these areas were selected randomly to achieve a diocesan and geographic spread, while the Bishops’ Council for Education said no school or area identified in the department’s report should be considered as being prioritised for divestment. It said much more than a simple quantitative analysis was needed to verify parental demands, and that parents’ attitudes, beliefs, values and expectations needed to be measured.