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Parents doing it for themselves!
- 20th February 2003
We are constantly told that people are busier then
ever before, that time is the new currency…. yet hundreds
of parents in Ireland have been increasingly taking the future
of their children’s education into their own hands.
Throughout the country, voluntary groups of parents
are establishing and developing schools, which are multi-denominational,
child centered, co-educational and democratically managed. There
are 28 such schools to date with another 6 to come on stream in
the coming year. Last year seven new schools were opened, more
than twice the number of new schools opened by all other sectors
of education combined.
Speaking at today’s launch of the New National
Office of Educate Together, David Denny, Chairperson said,
“There is a wealth of experience within the
Educate Together sector with more than 200 accumulated years
of experience of operating democratically managed, multicultural
schools as a partnership between teachers and parents. Today
we are announcing our new national office team. This will deliver
five times the resources that were available to the sector previously.
With this new national centre, we are setting out on a programme
to build a national network of Educate Together schools so that
the education system can truly reflect the democratic rights
of all children.”
The progress of the Educate Together sector is a
strong indication of the growing demand from the general public
for schools that respect and cherish the identity of children
from all religious, social and cultural backgrounds.
Educate Together is holding its third Ethos Conference
in Citywest Feb.28th- March 1st. This will concentrate on the
unique multi-faith programme that has been developed in the schools
over the last 27 years.
Reflecting the human rights priority of the sector, the guest
speaker at the conference is Ray Dooley,
Chief Executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance. Speaking
at the launch of the conference programme,
Ray said,
“I am delighted to be part of the Conference.
Since its inception, Educate Together has made an enormous contribution
to promoting the rights of all children to an equal education.
The Educate Together ethos - that children from all social,
cultural and religious backgrounds must be equally respected
- should be fundamental to educational philosophy and practice
in Ireland.”
The New Educate Together National Office Team consists
of:-
- Paul Rowe, Chief Executive Officer
- Deirdre O’Donoghue, National Coordinator
with responsibility for School Support Services
- Jane McCarthy, Development Officer with responsibility
for new schools
- Kate Morris, Foundation Development Officer,
with responsibility for Fundraising and Communications
- Susan Kennedy Bergmann, Education Officer , with
responsibility for Educational Programmes, curricula development
and In-service and Pre-service provision
Penny Forbes, Team Assistant with responsibility
for Administrative Support
The full team will be available to answer questions
at the launch,
Please contact: Kate Morris for further information.
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