BY Fr. ULTAN MC GOOHAN

Role of the Churches in primary education

The Holy Communions and the Confirmations are almost over for another year. These annual celebrations show the school, the home and the parish working together at their best. The joyful celebration of these sacraments are the public expression of what is distinctive about a catholic education. Over the last year there has been a lot of discussion about the management of primary schools. Most of the primary schools in the State belong to a religious denomination and the vast majority are managed by the Catholic Church under the patronage of the Diocesan Bishop or a particular religious order. In an increasingly secular Ireland, where religious practice has fallen and with the arrival of so many immigrants into the country over the last decade, the appropriateness of this management structure is being increasingly questioned. The Minister for Education is hosting a conference in June involving representatives of all the religious denominations, parents, teachers and other interest groups to discuss what changes, if any, need to be considered.A vision for Catholic education

In the context of this debate, the Irish Bishops’ Conference has launched a document called “Vision 08,” which proposes a vision for Catholic education in Ireland. It is well worth a read and a summary may be found on www.catholiccommunications.ie. The Bishops explain why they feel that Catholic education has a special value today. An authentic catholic education draws its inspiration from the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. In their relationship with each other – pupils, teachers and parents – try to be guided by the values of Christ, such as emphasising love, peace, forgiveness, self-sacrifice, genorosity, having a care for those less fortunate than ourselves and finding in each other the image and likeness of God.

A holistic approach

A Catholic School strives to develop the full potential of each pupil. Their intellectual gifts are built up, but they are also encouraged to foster their talents for art, music, and drama. Through regular exercise and play they are taught to value their physical well-being. And through daily prayer, preparation for the sacraments, fundraising for good causes, their spiritual growth is catered for. So a catholic education is holistic. It caters for body, mind and spirit. Education gives us the ability to make a living. A Catholic education gives us a reason for living – to love God and to love our neighbour as ourselves.Rooted in the parish

The document recognises that the great strength of our catholic education system is its rootedness in the parish. Therefore, the life of the school is integrated into the life of the parish and the parish plays a part in the life of the school. So the school forms links with the local St. Vincent de Paul Society and the local G.A.A. and Soccer club. Table Quizzes and Christmas concerts, coffee mornings and library visits mean the school becomes another place where the bonds of unity and common purpose in a parish are forged ever closer.A place of tolerance and welcome

One of the criticisms levelled against the Catholic School is that with its strong religious ethos, it is unable to accommodate those of other faiths and none, into its life. This is patently false. One of the reasons why Ireland adjusted so well to the sudden influx of immigrants in the last decade, is due in no small part to the way in which our Catholic Schools made the newcomers feel welcome. This welcome they received in our schools helped the parents and the children to integrate quickly into our parish communities. Indeed the advent of a multi-cultural Ireland is often used as an argument by those who want us to reduce the number of catholic schools. The difficulty with this argument is that so many of the new arrivals in Ireland – Polish, Nigerian, Latvian etc – are themselves catholics! So it is a false argument. Many of our catholic schools contain pupils of all religions and none and they are treated with great sensitivity. Survey of parents attitudes

A recent survey undertaken by the Catholic Bishop’s of parents of primary school children throughout the island of Ireland, has revealed that 95.1% of them were satisfied or very satisfied with their decision to send their child to a Catholic school. That is a staggering statistic. The survey also discovered that 67.9% of parents want the primary schools to continue to prepare children for the sacraments. 83% of parents are confident that the parish managed school provides a safe environment for their child. Interestingly, only 10% of parents said that they would prefer to choose a school not under the management of a religious denomination. That survey is good news not just for the Catholic Church but for all the Christian Churches in Ireland. Irish parents value the faith based education their children are receiving. Hopefully, these voices will be heard at the education conference in June before we begin to tinker too radically with what most people clearly believe is not broken.

(Courtesy of the Anglo Celt)