Cathal BarryA motion by unionist politicians in the North to restrict the right of faith-based schools to protect their ethos has been criticised.
Proposing the motion in the Northern Ireland Assembly, Ulster Unionist Party MLA Danny Kinahan called for the removal of requirements for a Certificate in Religious Education to teach nursery and primary level in the Catholic maintained sector.
Mr Kinahan claimed the requirement was an “overt” example of “inequality and discrimination” and posed an “unnecessary” barrier to “truly shared education”.
Criticising the motion, SDLP education spokesperson Sean Rogers said the notion that the Certificate in Religious Education permits discrimination is “wildly misleading and frankly wrong”.
“We have a very unique educational landscape in Northern Ireland that must be managed respectfully and inclusively. Many parents want their children to be taught in a Catholic ethos but by no stretch of the imagination does this mean that they want their children to be ‘segregated’,” the MLA said.
Mr Rogers added that the certificate and additional training “enables nursery or primary school teachers confidently to conduct religious education classes through a Christian ethos”.
“Some of the members more inclined to exaggerate need to be reminded that the certificate is a qualification: not a conversion. Catholicism, let alone strict adherence to the Catholic faith, is not a prerequisite,” he said.
Welcoming the intervention of Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan, the head of St Mary’s University College, Belfast, Prof. Peter Finn, insisted his college “is committed to a shared future for teacher education in the North based on respect for diversity and parity of esteem”.
Mr Sheehan had drawn comparisons between the current motion on teacher employment and the North’s Higher Education Minister Stephen Farry’s plans to cut a vital £1.1million subsidy to St Mary’s.
Prof. Finn told The Irish Catholic he “needs to see evidence” that the position of St Mary’s as an autonomous institution of higher education “is fully respected by the political parties who supported the motion and the amendment”.
“The recent attempt to make St Mary’s not viable has created an atmosphere of distrust which must be addressed as a matter of urgency,” he warned.