PRIMARY TEACHERS have called on the new government to address the issue of school patronage in its first year in office.
The Irish National Teachers Organisation says the new government should establish an open forum that would allow all interested parties address the issue in an open and transparent way. “This could be set up now, begin its work in September and be finished by the end of the year,” said Sheila Nunan, general secretary of the union. It accused the last three Fianna Fáil education ministers of failing to deal with the issue.
The union first called for such a forum in 2006, which it said would allow all education partners to discuss and debate the future control of schools. This call was echoed by Fine Gael and Labour.
Last week the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, patron of the largest number of primary schools in the country, reiterated his support for a forum and criticised the Government for its slowness in dealing with change.
Ms Nunan said that for years teachers had been objecting to being in sole charge of religious education. “Pupil enrolments have become increasingly diverse over the last decade . . . It now seems everyone that matters is willing to sit down and shape a new future for primary schooling in Ireland.”
