TEACHERS WERE “somewhat agnostic” when it came to the patronage of primary schools, Irish National Teachers Organisation general secretary Sheila Nunan told the advisory group on school patronage Thursday.
They were more likely to be drawn in when it came to boards of management, she said.
Still, teachers attached “huge importance” to the patronage debate and were “glad it hasn’t descended into trench warfare as they have no vested interest in any patron body”, she said.
Sacramental preparation was “a very key feature of our denominational schools,” she said.
Over recent years “teachers have been concerned that a responsibility has shifted to the school [for such preparation] which is not necessarily reflected in the faith community itself”, she said.
The issue of teachers who were not believers being involved with such preparation “arose from time to time”.
There had been no survey on the matter since 2002, which showed a majority of teachers were willingly involved in such preparation, with younger teachers less likely to be and rural teachers more willing, she said.
Where schools were allowed discriminate against teachers whose lifestyles didn’t comply with a schools ethos, particularly where divorce and homosexuality were concerned, she said there were concerns such could be barriers to employment or advancement.
About senior children she emphasised that “they have an important contribution to make.”
They could provide an insight into whether “diversity and plurality is working.” Prof John Coolahan agreed it was “very important to hear the children’s voices”.
He suggested to Marie Griffin, chief executive of the Irish Vocational Education Association, that the five pilot community (VEC) national schools were “at cutting edge work”.
Were they successful in accommodating such diversity among its pupils, that would be “of world importance if you can pull it off”, he said.
The VEC policy, Ms Griffin said, was “always one of inclusion” but that this did not mean ghettoisation. They were “very careful” when it came to the percentage of special needs children, Travellers, and immigrant children were accommodated in each school “to avoid ghettoisation.”
In Scoil Colm in Dublin 15, 24 per cent of the children were Catholic, 14 per cent were Orthodox Christian, 31 per cent were other Christian, 29 per cent were Muslim, with “a handful” of Hindus, Buddhists and Humanists.
“In practice we divide the children into four different groups – Catholic, other Christian, Muslim and non-theist,” she said.
Children moved around the classrooms, as they did for other subjects. “It is the same for religion, they move around,” she said.
The schools ensured faith formation for children in accordance with parents wishes. All children studied the text ethical book Goodness Me. Goodness You , provided in such schools and which all could accept, as well as stories from their different faith traditions.
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