School patronage - Too limited

Considerable progress, seemingly with the co-operation of all involved, is being made on the issue of school patronage.

This legacy issue needs to be resolved to accommodate the expectations of a society which has changed utterly in recent generations.

The latest step involves a Department of Education survey of parents to establish which patrons they wish to see operating primary schools.

The survey will be “confined to parents living in the area, parents of preschool children and parents of children who are in the primary school sector”, Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn has said.

On the face of it this may seem reasonable but this is about much more than education, this is how society is shaped and influenced.

Because of that submissions from anyone who might care to make one should be considered. This issue goes far beyond the classroom.