Sir, – Robert McCarthy (September 23rd) states that 50 per cent of children in a Dublin Protestant fee-paying school are Catholic.
In the same way that there are a number of Protestant children in Catholic schools, of course Protestant schools are open to those of any religious background. Parents’ choice may be because the ethos of the school appeals to them or that it is the nearest school. It is not always viewed as elitist education. My child attends a Protestant school not because it is elitist, but because it is a school catering for our ethos, and most parents at the school I believe feel the same way.
In my area, there is a choice of five schools – all of which are of a Catholic ethos. In order for my child to attend a school of our religious ethos, we have to pay for him to attend, whereas children of a Catholic background have a choice of free local schools and fee-paying schools. The nearest schools of our ethos are at least an hour’s car journey away, which means my son has to board.
There are a lot of assumptions made about fee-paying schools and I would suggest before anyone makes judgment, that they talk to the struggling parents trying to get an education of their ethos for their child in the same way every parent does. – Yours, etc,
JULIE MARSHALL,
Gorvagh,
Co Leitrim.