Ireland: The question of Catholic education

This week in Ireland, the Minister for Education presented a detailed report into the patronage of first level schools in the nation. Over 90% of the country’s primary sector schools are owned and under the patronage of the Catholic Church. This reality is partly the result of historical necessity. Speaking to Emer McCarthy, the Irish Bishops’ chairman of the Catholic Schools Partnership, Fr. Michael Drumm, says it is not only a ‘unique’ situation in an international context, but also one which will ‘have to change’ to reflect a changing Irish society. Listen:

In fact, the Irish Bishops have given initial support to the reports' recommendations, while adding that they will require a more detailed analysis. Those recommendations include: Divesting patronage where there is a stable population and demand for diversity of schools and promoting more inclusiveness in all schools, including 'Stand Alone' schools where divesting patronage to another body is not an option.

Fr Michael Drumm says “the main intention of the report is to facilitate the transfer of some Catholic schools to other bodies”, “by a slow incremental approach according to parental opinion in certain areas where it is established they want a school of a different type”.

“I think in all this what we need to be clear about”, he adds “is that in the Irish education system because of the Irish constitution, the rights of parents are paramount. We know for certain that a very large part of parents want Catholic schools and they will continue to have them, but for those who want a different type of school so we are entering a partnership to facilitate that”.

Fr. Drumm says that remaining Catholic schools must retain the right to promote their Catholic ethos, adding there is some “concern that if some of the proposals were interpreted in a particular way" it could undermine "the ability of denominational schools to protect and promote their ethos".

However above and beyond the number of Catholic schools in the nation, perhaps what is of greatest concern to parents and Church leaders alike is the quality of the education received in them.
During his 2008 US trip, Pope Benedict XVI told Catholic educators in Washington DC: “The Church’s primary mission of evangelization, in which educational institutions play a crucial role, is consonant with a nation’s fundamental aspiration to develop a society truly worthy of the human person’s dignity”.

What’s more, Catholic schools are often the sole provider of faith formation for Irish children. Fr. Drumm says: “Arguably the Irish Church had been over-dependent on schools with the provision of faith formation and that parishes and homes in a sense have been abdicating some of their responsibility onto the schooling system”.

According to a 2011 Census, over 84% of people in Ireland define themselves as Catholic however Mass attendance continues to slide, particularly among young people. Observers say that the Church is missing one if not two generations from its pews. Weak faith formation often leads to what Pope Benedict XVI has frequently termed as ‘religious illiteracy’.

But, Fr Drumm concludes, the Bishops have a vision for the future of Catholic education: “The vision definitively is that home school and parish need to work more closely together. Just a year ago now the Irish Bishops Conference published a new national directory on catechesis called “Share the Good News”. What we want to do now is strengthen our schools but also place more respnsability on parishes and parents for formation. There is no doubt that in a more secular society the school needs more support from home and parish”.