Press release
Minister Foley announces the commencement of arrangements in a number of pilot areas aimed at increasing the number of multi-denominational primary schools
Published on
Last updated on
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Education Norma Foley TD has today announced that arrangements are now being put in place in a number of towns and areas of cities that have no multi-denominational primary schools to identify potential schools and to engage with school authorities, school staff and the school communities with a view to agreeing on a transfer of patronage and change of ethos, where there is sufficient demand for this.
An information pack for school communities and parents setting out some general and practical information relating to transfer of patronage is also being published today.
Minister Foley said:
“I am delighted to announce that arrangements have been agreed on a process to identify potential schools for a transfer of patronage and change of ethos, in a number of pilot areas.
“I acknowledge the significant contribution that the Catholic Church has made, and continues to make, to the Irish education system. The Department and the Church recognise that there is a need for further progress in terms of visible and tangible change to provide more options of multi-denominational provision for parents.
“Accordingly, I am delighted that agreement has been reached on a process which will support meaningful engagement with school communities in the pilot areas in order to provide more multi-denominational options where there is demand for this.
“The learning from these pilots will inform the process in other areas of the country going forward. I thank the Irish Episcopal Conference Council for Education for their engagement in this regard and the relevant Bishops for their commitment to engage and co-operate fully with my Department in seeking to facilitate a more diverse school patronage in the pilot areas.”
The Department of Education and the Council for Education of the Irish Episcopal Conference (representing the Catholic patrons) have been engaging for some time in relation to progressing the Schools Reconfiguration for Diversity Process. This has involved reviewing learnings to date and developing agreed arrangements to explore reconfiguration opportunities in a number of towns and areas of cities that have no multi-denominational provision at present as part of a pilot arrangement. These agreed arrangements are reflected in the information pack being published today.
The Schools Reconfiguration for Diversity process, supporting transfers of schools to multi-denominational patrons in response to the wishes of school communities, aims to facilitate more availability of multi-denominational schools across the country.
The Reconfiguration process involves existing schools changing their patron and may also involve a change of ethos (for example, a change from a denominational (religious) ethos to a multi-denominational ethos). When a school transfers from the patronage of one patron to another, the school remains open (with the same roll number and operating from the same school property), with staff and pupils remaining in place.
The Council for Education and relevant Bishops have confirmed their commitment to reconfiguration and their willingness to engage and co-operate fully with the Department of Education in seeking to facilitate a more diverse school patronage in these towns and city areas. The pilot areas are:
- Arklow
- Athlone
- Cork
- Dublin
- Dundalk
- Galway
- Limerick
- Youghal
As part of this pilot process, the Department of Education will make available a number of independent facilitators to work with the school patron and relevant school authorities at a local level:
- to progress the reconfiguration pilot initiative;
- to assist in identifying potential school(s); and
- to engage with stakeholders including school authorities, school staff and the school community
with a view to agreeing on a transfer of patronage and change of ethos, where there is sufficient demand for this.
To assist school patrons and school communities, the Department of Education has published a guidance pack, setting out some general and practical information relating to transfer of patronage which may be useful for:
• Parents/guardians, pupils and school communities and;
• School authorities and staff where reconfiguration/transfer of patronage of a school is being considered or implemented.
This information pack is available here
The learnings from the process in the pilot areas listed above should provide a pathway forward on the process for providing multi-denominational options for parents in other towns and areas of the country going forward.
School communities that may be interested in exploring a transfer of patronage should engage with their school patron in the first instance.
ENDS
For historical reasons, most primary schools are State-aided parish schools, with the local Bishop as patron, although this pattern is changing.
The school patron is responsible for decisions on any transfer of patronage. It is possible for any school to transfer patronage, for example, a school patron may transfer patronage of a denominational (religious) school to a multi-denominational patron. Under the Education Act 1998, the legal responsibility for transferring patronage rests with the current school patron in the first instance.
The Schools Reconfiguration for Diversity process, supporting transfers of schools to multi-denominational patrons in response to the wishes of school communities, aims to facilitate more availability of multi-denominational schools across the country. The process provides opportunities for additional multi-denominational schools in either Irish or English and also opportunities for English-medium schools to make a transition to Irish-medium in that context. The Reconfiguration process involves existing schools changing their patron and may also involve a change of ethos (for example, a change from a denominational (religious) ethos to a multi-denominational ethos). When a school transfers from the patronage of one patron to another, the school remains open (with the same roll number and operating from the same school property), with staff and pupils remaining in place.
The Department’s objective is to provide an option to parents who wish for their children to be educated in a multi-denominational setting. All but one of the 52 new mainstream primary schools established in the last decade to cater for demographic growth are classified as multi-denominational, as are the 12 schools established to date under the Patronage Divesting Process. Twelve transfers of mainstream primary school patronage have also taken place in recent years, which resulted in the provision of an additional 11 multi-denominational education and training board Community National Schools. In addition an Irish-medium gaelscoil transferred patronage from its Catholic patron to An Foras Pátrúnachta. This school offers parents of junior infants the choice of undertaking an Ethics and Morality Program or a Catholic Program.
Following successful progression of the process in the pilot areas, it is envisaged that the learning from the pilots will inform the process in other areas of the country going forward.
Information pack
When a transfer of patronage is planned, there are many matters that need to be discussed and agreed in advance by the existing school patron and any incoming patron, including practical or legal considerations such as staffing, financial considerations, any outstanding liabilities, leasing of the school property and so on. These matters are addressed in the school authorities and staff section of the Department’s guidance pack, which is available here
It is intended that the information pack will be a live document and will be expanded upon, developed further and updated from time to time. This will be an important resource for school communities under Catholic patronage as well as those under other patronage who are interested in reconfiguration.