CATHOLIC Church leaders said yesterday they were willing to cut the number of primary schools under their control from its current high 'unrealistic' level.
At present, the Church runs 92pc of the state's primary schools -- 2,917 mainstream schools and 100 schools catering for children with special needs.
But the Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin said it was 'unrealistic' to expect the Church to continue to do so. He said he envisaged a situation where there was 'structured divestment' of schools.
A second member of the hierarchy, Dr Leo O'Reilly, suggested this divestment could involve the Vocational Education Committees.
This already happened at second level through the community college arrangements involving the VEC and various dioceses as co-trustees. The interests of the diocese were protected by a model agreement, he said.
They were speaking in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, where the Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe hosted a conference on future primary school needs, which was attended by representatives of all the main patron bodies and the wider education community. It was chaired by Dr John Bowman.
The Archbishop said that he had no ambition to be patron of Catholic primary schools beyond the number required to respond to the desire of parents who wished their children to attend such schools.
Ways could be found to expand the role of other patronage models, where such demand existed.
"It would flow, as I see it, from a gradual movement of children and teachers towards differing schools in an area, each of which would evolve towards the ethos of a particular patron."
Both the Archbishop and Dr O'Reilly stressed their welcome for the new national community school model, where the Co Dublin VEC will be patron. But they also made it clear that they wanted diversity of school types, with Dr O'Reilly saying the Church did not believe in a 'one size fits all' model.
On the teaching of religion, he said the Church was not looking for a veto. But it was seeking a mechanism for assuring that teachers of religion were appropriately qualified to teach the faith.
In the afternoon session, sharp differences emerged on the teaching of religion. The chief executive of the Educate Together organisation, which represents 44 schools, said he did not believe it was possible to deliver equality in primary schools while faith classes were being taught during the school day.
Paul Rowe questioned how a teacher could maintain equality when a section of the class went "off by themselves" during the teaching of religion. Catherine O'Brien, a member of the humanist movement, said children of humanists were entitled to moral and ethical education as much as everyone else.
l Minister for Integration Conor Lenihan, meanwhile, said he would have a response on the hijab debate by the end of the summer. He said there was no "fixed view" in relation to whether the garment should be allowed or not and that he was open to all opinions. However, Mr Lenihan said he believed a burqa, the full length garment which cloaks the entire body, did "serve to inhibit" teaching in the classroom.
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