Mags GarganAll knowledge needs to be encompassed within life values
Dear Editor, The kindest interpretation of the Minister for Education's anti-religious comment at the recent Irish Primary Principals Network Conference is that having a cut at Catholic schools is always good for a few column inches.
If he really meant what he is reported to have said then we have reason to be worried. An Irish Minister for Education should be a little more conscious of the contribution of theistic faiths to metaphysics, science and to culture. He should be aware of just how important a contribution they have made, through schools and universities, in delivering educational access to the poor and disadvantaged; in Ireland and also in poorer countries, especially in communities where political ideologies count for nothing.
The minister’s comments also demean what teachers – from primary school to third level – know to be the case; namely that all knowledge needs to be encompassed within life values that have to do with putting this knowledge at the service of the wider community. In Catholic schools this means the Gospel-based values of love, social justice and equality. That begins in primary school.
In any event, the notion that teachers can only find time for teaching other subjects at the expense of teaching faith-values is, of course, a nonsense. The primary school curriculum is too crowded, the classes too big, the conditions of some of buildings too poor, the teachers too pressurised…addressing any, or all, of these would make a far greater contribution to effective teaching than 'crowding out' faith values that celebrate milestones in young lives and help children make sense of life, relationships and work.
Coincidentally, I read the minister’s comments after having attended my daughter’s school Mass. Her school motto is 'Veritas' (Truth) and its Mission is 'Finding truth through the education of the whole person'. Now, that's education and I wouldn't want her or any young person to miss out on an understanding of either of these life-values.
Yours etc.,
Ray Kinsella,
Ashford,
Co. Wicklow.