Michael Kelly
Ireland’s educational infrastructure is in deep trouble. You’d be forgiven for thinking that the biggest single issue facing schools is the teaching of religion. Minister for Education Richard Bruton has latched on to the issue of the place of Faith in education as a convenient diversion from the real issues facing pupils and teachers on a daily basis.
This week it was revealed that there are now 1,300 prefabricated units at schools across the country being used as classrooms. The number of such ‘prefabs’ has increased by 30% on two years despite assurances from the Department of Education that they are merely temporary while new buildings are completed.
Reality
The reality is, prefabs are now a ubiquitous and near-permanent feature of Irish schools as pupil numbers continue to grow.
Yet, rather than face this Mr Bruton instead fixates on the place of faith in schools. He has focused on the so-called ‘baptism barrier’ – a crude term coined by a US billionaire funded lobby group and now dutifully used by politicians – that he says is preventing non-Catholic children from being admitted to Catholic schools. As any parish priest or teacher will tell you, children of all faiths and none are welcomed at Catholic schools across the country. Where schools are over-subscribed, principals are forced to deny entry to some children and being a Catholic school, priority is given to Catholic children. What’s the solution to over-subscription? Provide more places. But, instead of doing this Mr Bruton, cheered on by agenda-driven sections of the media, continues to deny that resources are the key issue preventing children attending schools that are over-subscribed.
Mr Bruton has also passed rules which make religion optional at second-level schools. However, he has not provided any additional resources to schools to cater for students who may be opted out of religious classed by their parents. This is despite the fact that the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) said such a move would require schools to employ additional teachers.
There are many issues facing schools, and the process of the divestment of some Church-owned schools will continue as will ongoing discussions about the place of religious education and catechesis in schools. But these discussions should not be allowed to be used as part of a smoke and mirrors operation to distract from the fact that schools in Ireland are chronically under-resourced.