The results of a Department of Education Survey showing limited desire for changing catholic school patronage [1] has been welcomed by the Irish bishops’ education agency.
While school-specific results were shared privately with individual primary schools in early June, all school-level reports were published on Tuesday [2] alongside a national summary report.
Catholic Education Partnership (CEP) Chief Executive, Alan Hynes-Cendrzak, said, “A simple reading of the results shows majority support for change in a little over 14% of schools. However, this figure falls to just under 7% once schools with a low response rate (below 40%) are excluded”.
He added that only 77 schools nationally meet the Department’s own criteria for signalling a likely majority of parents being in favour of change of which 51 are in Dublin or Cork. If you exclude schools with a response rate under 40%, that figure falls to around 40 schools.
The survey assessed parental preference on school patronage, language and co-educational provision in over 3,000 primary schools nationwide.