CHOICE IN EDUCATION

Section 6 of The Education Act, 1998, says that parents may, effectively, have "choice in education", if this is convenient for the Government:

(e) to promote the right of parents to send their children to a school of

the parents'choice having regard to the rights of patrons and the

effective and efficient use of resources;

This means that the right of parents to choose is qualified by whether the Government wants to spend money providing a choice. Parental choices are also limited to those that do not conflict with the "rights of patrons".

What are the "rights of patrons" that could have such weight that they supersede parents' rights? Could these "rights of patrons" explain the recently reported ('Islamophobia', BBC2, Saturday, August 18) refusal to admit an Islamic girl to (Catholic) St Mary's High School, Croydon, because her headscarf "broke the school dress code; pupils are not allowed to cover their heads", and there was no legal obligation on the school to admit non-Catholics?

After two proposed multi-denominational schools in Navan, Co Meath, and Waterford city failed to secure temporary premises and consequently could not open, the chairman of Educate Together, Mr Paul Rowe, said (in the Irish Times, Tuesday, August 7, 2001) that parents of children in Waterford and Navan were being forced to enrol in denominational schools, which conflicted with their beliefs. A "small number" had opted for home education.

Multi-denominational schools suffer, in the collective Irish psyche, from the stigma of being repositories of error; and those who express the desire for a curriculum free from Christian religious doctrine are perceived as being the very people most in need of it.

When the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 is implemented next summer, the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) will have the power to authorise the issuance of School Attendance Notices that will force parents to send their child to a named school.

If there is no multi-denominational school available, this will mean that parents may be compelled, under penalty of fine or imprisonment, to send their children to a school that violates their Constitutional right under Article 42.3.1:

"The State shall not oblige parents in violation of their conscience and lawful preference to

send their children to schools established by the State, or to any particular type of school

designated by the State."

How can the State legally issue School Attendance Notices to those who have no choice? Will the State put people who have no choice in prison for failing to send their child to a school they find incompatible with their beliefs?

Times have changed. Plans for education in the future must reflect this change.

Educate Together also reacted angrily to the lack of any provision for a multi-denominational school in a plan on future education provision in Portlaoise.

The idea of parents actually having any choice in this matter simply did not form in the minds of the Portlaoise politicians who framed the development plan.

The Government states that multi-denominational schools will be supported in those areas where parents have expressed a preference for such a school; yet future provision for such schools is excluded from development plans. Does this reflect the view of the Christian majority that parents who want a multi-denominational school are, at best, an insignificant minority; or, at worst, lost souls who aren't sufficiently concerned about the "moral formation" of their children? Perhaps subconsciously, multi-denominational schools are not regarded as providing the prerequisite for a fully-functioning Irish society: Christian religious moral formation.

Those concerned about the pernicious influence of the "Harry Potter" books, in which likable witches and wizards put an acceptable face on "heathen" practices, might feel that children taught in multi-denominational schools could easily be drawn into error, as they are not receiving moral guidance by the use of Christian doctrine as a foundation for their education...

When Ireland defined itself in the Constitution, the population was 100% Christian, and all the schools were owned and run by the Churches. No-one would have questioned the fact of mixing the teaching of academic subjects with the teaching of Christian doctrine. Anyone who did so would have been considered immoral by society: unmindful of their duty to ensure that children were "morally formed" in the correct way; neglectful of their Christian duty to spread the Word of God to those in need of salvation.

Times have changed: in parts of Dublin, only 44% of children are being raised as Catholics.

Very few home educators would state publicly that they chose to home educate primarily because they objected to the integration of Christian religious doctrine into general studies. But many would agree, if asked privately, that the religious predisposition of the National school curriculum, and the general unavailability of other options, did have a major influence on their decision to teach their children at home.

 The item below (from The Irish Times, February 17, 2003) gives the Catholic Parents Association's point of view, that the curriculum in Catholic schools must accord with 'Catholic norms':

Parents seek new code of conduct for curriculums in schools

By Seán Flynn, Education Editor

A new code of conduct which will prevent the Department of Education "imposing anti-Catholic and anti-family" material in schools has been demanded by a leading parents' group.

The National Congress of Catholic Secondary Schools Parents Associations (CSPA) says it wants to protect pupils and parents from "objectionable thematic slants in curriculums, books and resource materials". The CSPA complains that, despite the objections of Catholic parents, "these biased interventions, in contravention of Catholic and family values, have continued".

Controversy between the Department and Catholic parents groups has raged in recent years about the Exploring Masculinities programme in schools. The Department says the programme, which challenged traditional male/female stereotypes, was a progressive one based on best international practice. But Catholic groups have said it sent the "wrong signal" to young men. The programme was withdrawn last year but elements of it are being incorporated into other school programmes.

Yesterday, Ms Barbara Johnston, of the CSPA, said the organisation only wanted to protect the ethos of Catholic schools and was fully conscious of "the plurality of different backgrounds and values" in modern Ireland. She said concerns voiced by Catholic parents about Exploring Masculinities had been repeatedly dismissed. "To settle for less than Catholic norms would be to fail in our duty to parents and the pupils of the present and future effectively diminishing the ethos and standing of Catholic schools," she said.

The proposed code of conduct is designed to ensure that "instruction given and materials used" in Catholic secondary schools respects the ethos of these schools. The CSPA says there is a duty of care on all parties including teachers, school managements, Church hierarchy, diocesan authorities, pastoral carers, the State and to those producing religious texts and instructional materials, to ensure that the denominational rights of parents, pupils and teachers are upheld. The Catholic parents want a complaints procedure to be established.

© The Irish Times 2003

Page last modified February 18, 2003