Education chiefs aim to cut Catholic primary schools

Education chiefs are targeting 10 urban areas where the number of Catholic primary schools will be cut, it was revealed today.

Bishops and local communities will get the final say on the need for church-run schools and whether closures will take place.

Education minister Batt O‘Keeffe told the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA) AGM that the aim of the review was to meet demands for religion-linked teaching.

“I do appreciate that the process of letting go a school that may have a long history and tradition in a locality may be painful for some,” he said.

“However, in line with the theme of your conference in looking forward to the next generation, change will ultimately also bring about a consolidation and strengthening of the remaining Catholic provision matched to the demand for it.”

The Department of Education said the 10 areas being tested for surplus Catholic schools will be published in the coming weeks.

Mr O’Keeffe attempted to ease fears over potential closures, insisting that any decision on the identity of schools being shut down would ultimately rest with the patron, normally the local bishop, and the Catholic community in the parish or parishes concerned.

He said: “I do not believe we need any major discussion forum in relation to this likely change.

“General demographic change combined with changed public attitudes to religion has already happened. It simply has yet to find full expression in terms of an appropriate diversification of school patronage.”

It is widely accepted that only about one third of the country‘s Catholics regularly attend Mass but more than 90% of primary schools are run by the church.

Mr O‘Keeffe also warned there is a danger that schools being kept in the Catholic faith would become elitist.

The minister also suggested other possible reforms of the primary school network including ending the tradition of teaching principals.

“Even where it is not possible at present for small schools to amalgamate, I think we need to look at new initiatives that we might take, such as having a number of small schools operate as a federation under one common board of management and how we can better cluster teaching and other resources in that type of arrangement,” he said.

“A particular issue is that in small schools the principal teacher is also a class teacher.

“Rather than have a principal in each school we need to look at the possibility of having a non-teaching principal who discharges the role of principal across a number of schools.”