ETEN The Electronic Newsletter from Educate Together
Vol.8 No.2- April 23 2008

12 New Educate Together Schools To Open September '08

The Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin T.D. has today approved the establishment of 12 new Educate Together primary schools to open in September this year.

These new schools represent the largest annual increase in the Educate Together network in the 30 year history of the organisation. This growth is a remarkable indication of changing parental choice in Irish education. Despite the 12 schools approved this year, this still does not meet the levels of demand that we have experienced in our National Office. We are therefore confident that there will be continued growth of the Educate Together network in the next few years, as long as the State continues to provide appropriate resources to meet parents' wishes.

Educate Together schools are based on a philosophy of human rights. They aim to provide an educational space of respect and equality in which children can grow and learn the essential social skills for 21st Century Ireland. They provide a comprehensive programme of ethical and religious education during the school day while providing facilities for any group of parents who so wish to run specific faith-formation classes outside school hours.

The areas in which new Educate Together schools have been approved are:

Carrigaline, Co Cork.
Midleton, Co. Cork.
Kilcolgan, Co. Galway
Carlow Town, Co. Carlow
Wexford Town, Co. Wexford
Greystones, Co. Wicklow
Maynooth, Co. Kildare
Drogheda, Co. Louth
Skerries, Co. Dublin
Belmayne, Dublin 13
Lucan East, Co. Dublin
Swords, Co. Dublin

Educate Together applauds the work of parents and activists in each of these local areas for their hard work and determination to make the Educate Together model available in their communities. The Minister's decision now allows us to immediately proceed with the process of recruiting Principal Teachers and to start the detailed work required to ensure that the schools open as smoothly as possible. Recruitment advertisements will shortly be placed in the national press, on our website and on other educational recruitment websites.

To give prospective parents the maximum clarity on the availability of places, we intend to make an initial offer of Junior Infant places in these schools in the next few weeks. Parents still seeking places are advised to apply using the forms available from the Educate Together website. <http://www.educatetogether.ie/6_start_up_groups/startupgroups.html> .

Carpenterstown Educate Together National School
Educate Together is particularly disappointed by the Minister's refusal to sanction a new Educate Together school in Carpenterstown, Dublin 15. In this area an unprecedented number of parents have sought places for children in an Educate Together school. There is a long-standing formal agreement with the DES to retain a reservation for an Educate Together school and we understand that the DES will have vacant classrooms in a new building to be provided in the area this September.

It appears that the Minister's decision is purely political. It is aimed at imposing a new VEC pilot school on the parents in the area without consultation and without any regard to their expressed wishes. In deciding against the Educate Together school, the Minister appears to be acting as judge in her own case as she is currently the patron of the VEC pilot schools.

This situation could have been avoided. Last year, the Minister's officials decided not to ask Educate Together to open an emergency school in the area and instead asked the Archbishop of Dublin to open a 'Catholic school for non-catholics'. The Archbishop reluctantly agreed for a maximum two-year period and stated that he understood that 'no other patron was available'. This was not true. This school - Scoil Choilm - opened last September and is now being provided with a building in Carpenterstown and transformed into a VEC pilot.

The VEC pilot concept as announced by the Minister involves the registration of children according to the religious identity of their parents and their compulsory separation on religious grounds during the school day. It also involves the preferential treatment of religions considered 'main' by the school, which may be illegal under our current equal status legislation.

Many parents, educators and responsible citizens are quite rightly opposed to such a model of education. It is deeply flawed and is socially irresponsible. However, it appears that the Minister is determined to impose this model on parents. The attitude adopted appears completely in conflict with parents' Constitutional rights.

In support of the educational rights of parents in the Carpenterstown area, Educate Together has sought legal advice and will appeal the Minister's decision. We call on the Minister to release the recommendation of the New Schools Advisory Committee on this application and to act to recognise this school as soon as possible. There are currently 258 children pre-enrolled for this school, with 80 applicants for 2008, 55 of whom are for Junior Infant places.