THE NEW State-run primary schools will “acknowledge and celebrate religious diversity’’ in an inclusive atmosphere, Minister for Education and Science Batt O’Keeffe promised yesterday.
The Minister said the new schools will aim to accommodate the wishes of parents to have their children receive religious and morality-based education, or faith formation, during the school day.
Families of all faiths and none are welcomed and all will be supported through the curriculum offered in the schools, he said.
The Minister said the Dublin VEC – which will run the new primary schools – is keen to deliver “shared religious content for all children in these classes for as much of the time as possible”.
The Minister asked whether joint enrolment procedures might be required to ensure schools are open to children of all backgrounds. At present, subtle practices by some schools can discourage some groups from applying for places, he said.
Earlier, Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin stressed he had no ambition to be patron of Catholic primary schools beyond the number required to satisfy parents who wished their children to attend such schools. “I believe that ways can be found to expand the role of other patronage models, where such demand exists, through a form of structured divestment by the Catholic patron, which recognises the rights and interests of all parties.”
John Carr of the INTO said the new community national school opens up many possibilities for religious teaching. These include provision of separate religious education or none for all groups, or a common religious programme for all with or without separate instruction. A system that would provide separate religious classes under the one roof was preferable to the current model where children are largely sent to separate schools on the basis of religion.
