Professor Eamonn Conway. A leading theologian has rejected claims that Catholics are significantly over-represented among trainee primary teachers.
The claim follows research from NUI Galway’s School of Education, which found that 90% of surveyed respondents who entered Irish primary teacher education programmes identified as Catholic, with just under half of these attending religious services at least once a week.
While sceptical of the report’s methodology, Prof. Eamonn Conway of Limerick’s Mary Immaculate College said the broad finding was neither unlikely nor problematic.
“It does not surprise me that many committed Catholics would feel called to what is essentially a vocation, that is to be a teacher,” he said, adding “this should not at all be a concern in terms of the possible dominance of the teaching profession by committed Catholics.”
As the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism itself noted, he said: “Those who are committed to their own faith tend to be the most tolerant of the religious beliefs of others, and also the most likely to be inclusive of those from different cultural, social, and faith backgrounds.”