Changing education - Demanding an alternative

As Education Minster Jan O’Sullivan had to acknowledge recently, the Government decision to change school patronage to better reflect Ireland today has hardly led to rapid change in the management of our education system. 

The minister had to concede that only two schools — one a Church of Ireland school in Mayo — had come under new, secular boards of management. This suggests stonewalling on a par with Canute’s attempts to hold back the tide and is entirely inappropriate — not to mention anti-democratic — in a society no longer dominated by the Catholic Church.

That change is exemplified by the fact that Educate Together, a group that provides education to children of all religions and none, has been forced to make a public appeal for funds because it cannot keep up with the demand for its services. The organisation has opened 74 primary schools and three secondary schools and has said it is “entering a period of real financial crisis”.

In the face of this obvious and escalating wish on the part of many families for an alternative to the traditional primary and secondary school the delays around changing school patronage become ever more unacceptable. Maybe it’s time the minister used this demand, and her ability to allocate or reallocate scarce resources, to leverage faster implementation of Government policy. This, after all, is a social issue rather than an educational or religious one.