The Government’s treatment of Protestant schools is “a test case of the nation’s commitment to its citizens who  are members of a religious minority”, Church of Ireland bishops have warned.

They also warned that the Government’s proposed Education Bill, which would remove of the right of patrons to determine who teaches in their schools “could result, for example, in having one teacher schools where the single staff member could not be assumed to be sympathetic to the characteristic spirit of the school”.

In a statement yesterday the nine bishops, who act as patrons to Church of Ireland schools, said that cutbacks by the Government were set to have a particularly dramatic negative impact on small, rural Church of Ireland schools which would be unable to amalgamate. 

Their words echoed comments made by Bishop Richard Clarke to an Iona Institute conference on denominational education earlier this month. Bishop Clarke warned that many Church of Ireland schools would end up being non-viable if the cuts were implemented.

The cuts, they said would have “a disproportionate impact on the schools of which we are patrons”.

And they said that given the “repeated commitment of successive governments to pluralism in the area of education” they believed that “faith-based schools have a right to expect genuine governmental support”.

They added: ‘While we wish to be regarded as realistic and creative in our contribution to present discussions, we would also emphasise that no single issue has in recent years caused such a degree of anxiety amongst our communities as this one. 

“It is no exaggeration to say that this is a test case of the nation’s commitment to its citizens who are members of a religious minority and who for generations have sought to support and enrich the life of the state in an atmosphere of pluralism and tolerance.”

They said they recognised the financial realities facing the Government and accepted that their schools could not be exempt from the impact of this. 

However they said that they remained committed to the concept of faith-based schools, and added that were “aware not least thanks to recent professional surveying that in our communities there is a significant demand for them”. 

They said: “We believe that such schools have a right to expect genuine governmental support. In our view education in a faith-based school is undertaken in an environment of Christian faith, but that does not mean the school is narrowly confessional.

“Of the 174 schools of which we are patrons, 130 have 86 or less pupils and will be directly and in the short term affected by cuts in mainstream class teachers. This is a dramatic statistic. Many of these are in rural areas serving rural families and cannot readily be amalgamated with other Church of Ireland schools for reasons of geography. 

“The loss of these schools, accompanied by detrimental changes to the transport scheme, would have a major and destructive impact upon the coherence and wellbeing of the parochial communities which support them.”

There was a prospect, they warned, of 38 of the schools becoming one teacher schools.

“Such an arrangement is tantamount to a decision to close them, not least given the curricular and child protection requirements of the present day. It is likely that many parents would – quite reasonably – not wish to have their children in a one teacher school,” they said.

They said: “While we wish to be regarded as realistic and creative in our contribution to present discussions, we would also emphasise that no single issue has in recent years caused such a degree of anxiety amongst our communities as this one.

“It is no exaggeration to say that this is a test case of the nation’s commitment to its citizens who are members of a religious minority and who for generations have sought to support and enrich the life of the state in an atmosphere of pluralism and tolerance.”