Minister Bruton announces plan for 400 multi-denominational schools in next 15 years
The Minister for Education Richard Bruton has said the Government will push ahead with plans to divest patronage of Catholic schools.
Mr Bruton said he wanted to see the process accelerated and to increase the number of multi-denominational schools to 400 within the the next 15 years, to cater for parental choice.
More than 90% of the State's 3,200 primary schools are currently managed by the Catholic Church.
Minister Bruton (pictured) outlined plans for an average of 20 new multi-denominational and non-denominational schools per year between now and 2030.
He has asked his Department to set targets for each of the next five years, including newly built schools and divested ones.
Mr Bruton said he particularly wanted to see the development of state-run primary schools known as Community National Schools, which provide for preparation for the Catholic sacraments during the school day.
Community National Schools (CNS) are run by the country's Education and Training Boards or ETBs, formerly known as VECs. The CNS model was first announced in 2007 by then Minister for Education Mary Hanafin TD and was developed following consultation with education partners and church groups.
The Educate Together body has raised concerns about the Community National School system, saying it continues to segregate children on religious grounds for religious instruction.
Mr Bruton said he would like to see CNS schools develop as "a more flexible model", including exploring the possibility of joint patronage between them and other patron bodies. Educate Together has ruled out joint patronage with any body that offers faith formation during the sachool day.
In a statement released later this morning, the voluntary group Education Equality said it was "disappointed and concerned" at Minister Bruton’s announcement that Community National Schools are his preferred school model to which to divest Catholic schools.
"(We) question the validity of a consultation with stakeholders undertaken by the Minister if conclusions have already been drawn," the group said.
The statement goes on: "Education Equality has concerns that Community National Schools do not treat children of all beliefs with equal respect because of the way in which children are divided up during the school day.
"Community National Schools currently operating separate children up into separate groups for religious teaching during the school day: Catholic children into one group, other Christians into another, Muslims into a third, and “humanists, Buddhists and Hindus” into a final group."
Education Equality chairperson April Duff said: "Any school that divides children up according to their religion must give rise to serious concerns.
"Segregation is something we should working against, rather than actively encouraging. Would this appear to be an acceptable model if children were divided according to their race or their skin colour?
"Anecdotal evidence gathered by Education Equality from parents reveals that these divisions are carried through into the playground, where children stick to groups of their own religions.
"Those belonging to the smaller religions feel alienated and different. The troubles in Northern Ireland ought to teach us a lesson about the wisdom of dividing people, particularly children, according to religious beliefs."
Chairperson of Atheist Ireland Michael Nugent said the process was creating a more divisive environment.
"Although it seems on the surface to be addressing the problem, it's actually making the problem worse," he said.
"What the Catholic Church is trying to negotiate is that in return for (some divestment), they will have a stronger Catholic ethos in the schools they retain.
"This means most families will not only not have access to schools that don't indoctrinate, but will in fact only have access to schools that have an even stronger Catholic ethos."
