‘We must not lose sight of the value of religious education’

As Catholic Schools Week begins, the CPSMA’s Seamus Mulconry speaks with Paul Keenan

With the closing of the first month of the year, it is all too clear to those across Ireland involved with – and in defending – Catholic education that 2017 is set to be as busy a period as the preceding 12 months,

Barely had the New Year begun than fresh predictions were being aired as to the ending of the core status of Religious Education in schools (based on the much-anticipated report of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment). Just two weeks later the issue of school admissions was back on the public agenda as Minister for Education Richard Bruton offered his four options towards tackling the right of faith schools to prioritise children of their respective faiths during the admissions process, all under the claim of dealing with oversubscription of school places.

Plenty of material here, then, to mull over as The Irish Catholic sits down with Seamus Mulconry of the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA).

“I often say that that we are the Bondi Rescue (after the popular Australian TV show about the lifeguards on Bondi beach)” he said. “We run a telephone advice line for principals and boards of management to support them on difficult issues and we provide training to hopefully keep them out of difficulties. We also represent Catholic Primary Schools with Government, that makes us a great listening post for anyone who wants to know the issues facing Irish Primary Education.” Some quick research reveals that the CPSMA receives 7,500 calls annually (with no downturn outside term times as some might expect). The calls range from issues such as bullying, those around social media, parental complaints.

“Our people could be on the phone for 45 minutes or more dealing with complex issues,” Mulconry explains

“Let me be blunt, everyone either wants to get into our schools or to take them over so we (Catholic Primary Schools) must be doing something right.” Having come from outside the education sector, Mulconry adds that since assuming his role with the CPSMA in June 2016 he has been really impressed by “the high quality of people involved in education – we have excellent teachers who are committed, dedicated and adaptable.” These, he insists, are the real core to an excellent educational system and “a huge asset and advantage to that system. They are the backbone of the primary sector.”

Volunteers

He is no less impressed by boards of management: “Volunteers all across the country who offer their time with no return, no reward, for what they do and do well.

“In fact next to the GAA school boards of management are the biggest generators of Social Capital in the country. We also have principals, who do an extraordinary job in the running of a school, handling procurement, finance, and leading a staff of teachers.”

None of the roles, he insists, are fully appreciated by the public the media or by Government.

Nor is the role that faith schools have played in integrating newcomers to Ireland. “Talk to migrants, and they will tell you they prefer to come to a faith-based school,” he says. “The untold story of immigration to Ireland is the huge contribution Catholic schools have made to making newcomers and their children feel welcome, and helping them to integrate to the wider society. Catholic schools are open and inclusive”.

The normally mild mannered and softly spoken Mulconry reacts with a flash of anger at suggestions that Catholic schools are in the business of indoctrination. “The use of the word indoctrination to describe Catholic education is deeply, deeply insulting to all Catholics, and is a despicable slur on the professionalism and reputation of the thousands of dedicated teachers in our schools. “If it was indoctrination we would be failing miserably in what we are doing,” he argues, stating further that “Catholic education is all about the full development of the human person” For him, he adds, a guiding principal lie in St John Paul II’s words – quoting St Irenaeus – that “the glory of God is in a man being fully alive”.

“Catholic education is a holistic education for all, addressing the academic, spiritual, personal and social dimensions of pupils.”

“Religion is a critical part of the curriculum, and I believe the new religion programme ‘Grow in Love’ will help schools to help parents and parishes pass on the faith to a new generation” Mulconry argues that religion as a subject has huge value. By way of one small example, he offers: “Over Christmas we saw children taking part in Nativity plays. This introduced them to drama. The subject of those plays allows now for discussion of homelessness, and refugees, and all in an age-appropriate way. We mustn’t lose sight of the value of religious education.”

For all that, Mulconry concedes that many schools no longer devote a full two-and-a-half hours per week to religion, describing constant highlighting of that as “an exaggeration”.

But where religion might not be forced out as a core subject, it must surely see a challenge in the mooted Education about Religions and Beliefs (ERB) and Ethics course, with the NCCA yet to release the findings of its consultation process on this. “It seems from leaks regarding this report that again there is virtually no demand for a separate course when schools are already doing what the course proposes,” Mulconry says.

And, he points out, in relation to Catholic schools, world religions are already being dealt with in the classroom, and similarly, ethics remains a key element of the Catholic sector. “What do they think we’re teaching?” he wonders.

Ethos

When people talk about Catholic education the talk inevitably turns to ethos. “There is a lot of talk of ethos,” Mulconry concedes, admitting that “I struggle with the word. It is very easy to recognise Catholic ethos when you encounter it in a school in the respect and inclusivity that is fundamental to the sector – but it is hard to put into a clear language.

“Ethos is the Greek word for character, so it is the character or culture of the school. The Catholic ethos in education has to mean a focus on excellence, and respect for every child as made in the image and likeness of God.”

Ensuring that CPSMA supports boards of management in developing the Catholic ethos of schools is a key priority of the board of CPSMA who have set up a working group to look at practical ways of strengthening the Catholic culture of schools.

At last, then, we come to the many points of contention launched against Catholic education over the last number of years, and which may define the coming year. But even here, Mulconry surprises with his insider knowledge of the sector.

“There are critical challenges that become lost in the almost obsessive focus by policy makers and the media on limiting the role of religion in schools,” he says at the outset.

“There is a clear lack of resources,” he says, pointing to figures that show how schools are expected to get by on 92 cent per pupil per school day or €170 per year. “Many parents pay more for childcare in a month than the Government pays in a year. Buy every child in the school a happy meal and you’ve blown the budget for the week.

“The system has been run on the cheap for a long time. If this were the manufacturing sector, it would be classed as ‘lean manufacturing, but now it is sliding from lean to anorexic.”

The pressure to make ends meet is causing real problems for principals and boards.

“Last November almost every call we got ended with any news of the minor works grant, some schools were just running out of cash.”

He goes on: “Parents are supporting schools through fundraising, not for the niceties for pupils, but for the necessities.” Here he adds that “a boosting of capitation back to the original level of €200 per child would ease some of the pressure in this regard”.

Beyond hard money considerations, there are also burdens such as admin overload on teachers and principals.

“Admin on teachers has dramatically increased over the last 20 years,” he says, “there are also about 136,000 children in classes of 30 or more, if you have child with special needs in that class and one or two disruptive pupils the time, you are in management mode rather than teaching mode for a lot of the time.

“We need investment in a system that is fraying yet working because of the quality of the people in it,” he says. “These are the real challenges to work on.”

Foundational level

Tackling these is no optional question for Mulconry. “Primary schooling is the very foundational level for society,” he argues. “It is here the child is given their own solid foundation for life, their ethical standards in addition to the core areas of literacy and numeracy.”

This brings us to the ‘timetabling battlefield’ that gains so much reportage over those real and common issues Mulconry has flagged.

“There is much pressure now to add stuff to the curriculum,” he says, “when what we need is to retain a focus on the core of what pupils need.”

Beyond the blasts offered by those with agendas against Catholic education, another challenge for the sector lies in the stark reality that the level of religious literacy in Ireland has declined across the years and Catholic schools are having to cope with that. Yet, again, Mulconry brings a clear perspective: “If you ask parents, they want a high quality education for their children that includes values.”

Continuing on the topic of a ‘changed Ireland’, he says, “we have no problem with choice, but we want people to also have the choice to select Catholic education. Having said that, I think the level of demand for change is another area that is exaggerated. Let’s not force change that is not popularly demanded,” he adds, referencing the low level of such in surveys concerning change, such as that conducted as part of the Forum on Pluralism and Patronage in 2012.

“There is a general acceptance of a need for choice in the school’s sector,” he acknowledges, “and there is no problem with that. And, if it were to become a question of competition, that is not a worry.”

Bringing us naturally to the question of divestment. What about that?

“The Church has been criticised for not divesting. But it is extraordinarily difficult to hand over schools where it is hugely unpopular among local communities. And people have made their feelings known on this.”

Local schools have the emotional clout of rural post offices by a factor of 10,” he says, he also points out “My local school was one of these surveyed by the Forum, I voted no as did almost all of the other parents, and I would have fought anyone who tried to push it through”

The most immediate challenge however is the announcement by Minister for Education Richard Bruton of moves – and a consultation process – to tackle the so-called ‘baptism barrier’ – a term Mulconry dislikes and describes as “misleading”.

As he reiterated at the time in response to the Minister’s words: “Over 95% of Catholic primary schools accept every pupil. Over-subscription mainly arises in areas of Dublin and pockets of the commuter belt surrounding the capital and we have hard data that only 1.2% refused applications in Dublin relate to baptism.

“This policy change won’t impact on Catholic Education but it could wipe out Protestant schools.

“It is a classic example of changing something that works for something that sounds good.

Thus, while 2017 promises ever evolving challenges, Mulconry assures that the work of the CPSMA will evolve to meet them.

“Our focus in the CPSMA will be on improving the service and support we provide to Boards of Management and schools and creating a stronger voice for Catholic education because Catholic education is not just worth defending but celebrating.”