Groups and individuals who wish to make a submission to the Department of Education’s Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector have only a fortnight remaining in which to do so.

The final date for submissions for the forum, which will decide on how many and which Catholic primary school will be transferred to alternative patronage, is June 7th.

The forum, which was launched by the Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn in April, is looking for submissions from the public on three key themes; establishing parental and community demand for diversity; managing the transfer/divesting of patronage and diversity within a school or small number of schools.

Submissions to the forum must be returned by Tuesday, 7 June 2011 either to: [email protected] or Breda Naughton, Secretary to the Forum, Department of Education and Skills, Marlborough Street, Dublin 1.

Further details on what is required in the submissions can be found at this link, which also contains a copy of the form to be filled out and returned to the forum.

Mr Quinn appointed a three person independent Advisory Group to receive and assess submissions from parents, patrons, teachers and the wider community.

The group consists of Professor John Coolahan, professor emeritus at NUI Maynooth. The other members include Dr Caroline Hussey, former UCD registrar, and Fionnuala Kilfeather, former chief executive of the National Parents Council (primary). 

This group will then provide the Minister with policy advice within the Terms of Reference of the Forum.

Mr Quinn wants to see the first of the schools being transferred by next January.

Church sources, however, say the Minister was going too far, too fast.

Over 80 per cent of all primary schools are under the patronage of the Church. The minister has said he intends to cut this figure by 50 per cent.

While they welcomed the forum, Church sources said it was the Church that first raised the issue of an over-supply of Catholic schools and that they were finalising a lengthy period of consultation on the issue.

Meanwhile, Limerick teacher training college Mary Immaculate are hosting a two-day symposium on faith-based secondary schools.

The event, which will be attended by Minister Quinn, takes place amidst a debate about the future of faith-based education at secondary level.

Dr Eugene Duffy, Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies, in a statement announcing the symposium, said that “the rights of parents to choose a faith based school for their children, or not, must be respected and catered for”. 

Dr Duffy acknowledged that some realignment of faith based schools was “inevitable” but said that this reorganisation “should be carried out based on local demand for diversity”. 

The coming changes “should not be perceived as a threat to faith based schools, but more as an opportunity to renew the commitment to combining education with ethos to the mutual benefit of academic endeavour and the formation of well rounded and responsible citizens,” Dr Duffy said.

A number of internationally known speakers will address the symposium, including Professor Gerald Grace, founder of the Centre for Research and Development in Catholic Education, the first centre for Catholic Education in Europe, Professor Sean McGraw, co-founder of the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) and Professor Bart McGettrick, Dean of Education at Liverpool Hope University.