Catholic primary schools record 'steady decrease' in enrolments

Despite the closure of 112 Catholic primary schools between last year and 2012, schools with a Catholic ethos still make up the vast majority of primary schools here. File picture

There has been a "steady decrease” recorded in the number of enrolments in Catholic primary schools since 2018, despite a small increase in 2022 due to the enrolments of Ukrainian students.

At the same time, multi-denominational enrolments have continued to rise steadily. The figures are included in the latest annual statistical bulletin published by the Department of Education which looks at education data spanning the decade between 2012 and 2022.

Despite the closure of 112 Catholic primary schools between last year and 2012, schools with a Catholic ethos still make up the vast majority of primary schools here (88.55%). During the same timeframe, the number of multi-denominational schools increased by 69, while 11 Church of Ireland schools also closed.

The report notes that the clear trends in school ethos are “a result of the closure of schools with declining enrolments and the amalgamation of schools in close proximity to each other, as well as the opening of new multidenominational schools in response to parental choice.”

“All 25 newly established mainstream primary schools opened in the last five years have been multi-denominational in ethos, spread over various patrons.”

Total enrolments in Catholic schools increased by 1,066 between last year and 2021, from 487,018 to 488,084. This compares to a fall of 8,458 between 2020 and 2021. Total enrolments since 2018 have fallen by 16,949, from 505,033 to 487,018. 

The report notes the increase in 2022 is due to the additional enrolments of Ukrainian pupils; almost 2,100 schools have welcomed students since February 2022. 

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Enrolments in multi-denominational schools rose by 1,479 from 41,502 to 42,981 between 2021 and 2022, the report also shows. Overall, these enrolments rose by 6,645 since 2018.

There has been a “clear demographic” shift in Ireland, according to David Graham, communications officer, with Education Equality, a group campaigning to separate religion and education in State-funded schools. 

“It’s been quite clear for many years that there is a strong and growing demand for multi-denominational education, so these figures shouldn’t really surprise us."

The latest Census figures published in May also showed a decrease in the numbers identifying as Roman Catholic, from 79% (3,696,644) in 2016 to 69% (3,515,861) in 2022.

"There has been a quite clear demographic shift in Ireland, and I would see demand for multi-denominational education reflecting that shift," he added. 

Class sizes

Meanwhile, more than half of all primary school pupils were in a class of 25 students or more last year, the statistical report also found. While the overall average class size has varied little since 2002, the number of pupils in supersized classes of 35 or more fell sharply between 2002 and 2022.

Last year, 2,435 students had a class of 35 students or more compared with 11,901 in 2012. Almost one in 10 children remain in a class of 30 to 24 students.

The average class size in Catholic schools was 22.8, compared with 24.1 in multi-denominational schools. The overall average class size reached its lowest in 2022, at 22.8. 

On the other hand, the pupil: teacher ratio fell consistently from 18.0 in 2002 to 13.7 in 2021. It rose again in 2022 to 14.3 due to additional enrolments from Ukraine.