Primary School Patronage

(letter published in The Irish Times - May 2010)

Madam

In his analysis of the publication by the Department of Education of its study into the possible divesting of catholic primary school patronage (4th August), Patsy McGarry states that "There is also a concern that schools under new patronage may lead to more social division. Many secular schools today cater to children of the better-off and to the exclusion of more marginalised groups in society such as Travellers".  There is a clear implication in this that schools under the patronage of Educate Together are somehow there to cater for the elite and that they do not encourage pupils from marginalised groups in society to attend.  This is a complete misrepresentation of the situation.  Educate Together Schools are Multi Denominational, Co-educational, democratically run and open to all.  Of our 58 schools, 27 are in the Greater Dublin area and are spread across all areas of the city.  Pupils in our schools come from families in every income bracket and every ethnic group and the suggestion that the better off are overrepresented is simply not true.  The fact that a slightly higher percentage of our schools are part of the DEIS initiative than the national average is evidence of this.  His final line that "It would be tragic should more plurality in education patronage contribute to social streaming" is disingenuous as there is simply no evidence to back up this concern.

Yours, etc

Diarmaid Mac Aonghusa
Director,
Educate Together
Dublin 12