Co. Dublin VEC to provide the [b]first[/b] ever VEC run primary school in Ireland

Nevyn

http://www.dublin15.ie/pages/CV86/cv86n01.htm wrote:

VEC national school for Castleknock

A decision by the Catholic Church authorities not to proceed with the building of a new primary school in Porterstown has lead to the government authorising the Co. Dublin VEC to provide the first ever VEC run primary school in Ireland.

Following problems with increasing pupil numbers in the two schools serving Porterstown parish, the diocesan authorities initially applied, as school patron, to build a third school in the parish. However more recently they withdrew that application.

Last year to meet the demand from children applying to St. Patrick's National School in Diswellstown, the school accepted an additional fourth stream of pupils. This year the school is reverting to its approved three streams. Meanwhile the other school in the parish, St. Mochta’s, will this year accept a fourth stream to meet demand.

Community Voice understands that the parish authorities have recently initiated a common enrolment policy between the two schools. In addition it is also more rigidly enforcing one of the entry requirements of the school – that children must be baptised Catholics. Written evidence of baptism is required and the baptism must have taken place at least two years prior to enrolment.

It is understood that the Department of Education & Science has independently evaluated the demographic trends in the area and decided that the indications were that a third school would be required in the very near future. As a result of the decision of Catholic Archdiocese not to pursue its application for an additional school, the Government has now formally created a new model of primary school with a Vocational Education Committee acting as patron of the school for the first time

A start to the government taking responsiblity for primary eduction instead of a church/mosque/temple/charity, a good step or a step towards futher segreation in our schools ?

Talliesin

It takes this before the government starts supporting schools? :mad:

Zombrex

Thaedydal wrote:

a good step or a step towards futher segreation in our schools ?

Why would it lead to further segreation in our schools? (genuine question)

Nevyn

With the option to make the effort to take on more students who are not irish and not catholics in the so called 'main stream' christain patronaged school then
the VEC patronaged school will consist of non irish non catholic/christain children and will put children in differrnt camps when education should to my mind be working to bring children together in the class room and prepare them for a more culturally diverse country.

Sleepy

I can't believe the Church are allowed to hold onto the schools they currently have, never mind being looked to when capacity increases are required.

Haven't we already got multi-denominational primary schools though? I seem to remember 'project' schools not having any religious indoctrination?

It's a good, if woefully inadequate step towards a proper, secular, education sytem.

Nevyn

There are 3 Multidemoninational school in the greater D15 area they are held in patraonage by Educate Together which is a charity.

http://www.educatetogether.ie/5_schools/listofschools.html

Zombrex

Thaedydal wrote:

With the option to make the effort to take on more students who are not irish and not catholics in the so called 'main stream' christain patronaged school then
the VEC patronaged school will consist of non irish non catholic/christain children and will put children in differrnt camps when education should to my mind be working to bring children together in the class room and prepare them for a more culturally diverse country.

Oh right, I get you. All the Irish Catholics will go to one school, everyone else will go to another. I agree, this is not a road to go down. But having said that I think this is a better solution that opening more religious schools. Really all schools should be non-religious IMHO.

Fratton Fred

Education is a right all children should have, regardless of wealth, religion or nationality.

If the Churches are dedicated to education, then they should accept all children regardless of their creed, but imho, education is their way of indoctrinating kids into their particular brand of worship.

Surely, refusing to accept a child because of they were not baptised catholic, anglican etc, is contrary to that childs human rights.

lostexpectation

what do they mean VEC primary, cdvec

Vocational Education Committee

I though a vec was like a tec (rather then a grammer like i the uk)

at the moment VEC do plc

so eh does this mean a teacher/parents/locals committee set up the school? but no religious portion?

how is different to educate together? other then name, and other then run by a group already involved in plcs?

i see the cdvec see has mostly councillors on its committee

Nevyn

Educate together is a charity, who has acted as patron for multidemoninatal schools.

The VEC primary school will have the set set up as a VEC secondary school and will not have a religous portion and the dept of education via the VEC will be the schools patron.

Hobbes

Fratton Fred wrote:

Surely, refusing to accept a child because of they were not baptised catholic, anglican etc, is contrary to that childs human rights.

Maybe we can set up hedge schools?

Bradidup

Hobbes wrote:

Maybe we can set up hedge schools?

With the some of the apalling conditions in some of the primary schools around the country, ie over crowding, damp rat infestated buildings etc, they might as well have hedge schools.

Nevyn

Fratton Fred wrote:

Education is a right all children should have, regardless of wealth, religion or nationality.

If the Churches are dedicated to education, then they should accept all children regardless of their creed, but imho, education is their way of indoctrinating kids into their particular brand of worship.

Surely, refusing to accept a child because of they were not baptised catholic, anglican etc, is contrary to that childs human rights.

That is the way schools sre set up in this country and the partonage systems allows them to legally discriminate.

The state does have to provide education but it does not have to be the school of the parents choice, there can be a place for your child a 2 hours joureny away from where you live and the state had lived up to it's obligation.

Bradidup

In the Southern States of the US, community home schools are coming back because of the appaling reputation from state run schools and schools run by the Roman Catholic Religion, maybe it might catch on here.

Nevyn

That was always an option as the state in the consitution sites theparents as the primar teachers of children.
As long as the child passes the assements they can be home schooled.

anseanchai

A huge step forward for the Talibanana Republic of Ireland.

On the other end of the scale, the Catholic Bishop of Meath, Michael Smith, is trying to cap enrollment in "Catholic" national schools and limit enrollment to Catholics. We have first-hand experience of the way in which they threaten lapsed/post-Catholics with this policy. They wouldn't dare target Muslims or Protestants in this way. Why should people have to travel to an Educate Together school when there is a publicly funded school just down the road? The tail is wagging the dog on this one.

http://bloganseanchai.blogspot.com/2007/01/fight-for-irish-republic-in-your-local.html

http://www.anseanchai.com

Tigrrrr

If he's limiting enrollment to Roman Catholics, then isn't he excluding Protestants and Muslims(etc.) by default? And in fairness, isn't that his perogative, as administrator of the diocese, whose name the school would be in and whose ethos is fundamentally Roman Catholic?

You can't blame him for directing his efforts towards his church, it's the Government who have screwed up on this, not the churches. I'm an Anglican and if I had a child, I'm not sure how realistic expecting my local overcrowded RC school to take him/ her would be. And vice versa for a CofI school, etc.