A chara, – It seems that almost everyone agrees that we have too many schools under church patronage.
Furthermore, no one, religious or otherwise, can support the practice of children being baptised purely to gain a place in the local school.
However, it seems to me that rather than solving this problem by abandoning the religious entry requirements (which is completely unrealistic and may even prove unconstitutional), the problem could also be solved by strengthening them.
What if church-run schools, rather than prioritising baptised children only, were instead to prioritise children from families that attend church services regularly, or who are active members of their parish?
This would dramatically reduce the number of children eligible for prioritisation by the local church-run school, thereby providing plenty of surplus spaces in these schools for children from families of a minority religion, or of little or no faith. Such families would compete with other families in their locality for the surplus spaces on a first-come first-served basis, which is already the case in schools of various patronage bodies across the country.
As a side benefit, we would also have a much clearer idea as to the true demand for “faith-based” education versus parents’ simple desire that their children attend a particular school.
This information would surely provide some impetus in the divestment process (or lack thereof, as has been the case to date). – Is mise,
MUIREANN LYNCH,
Sandymount,
Dublin 4.