In my opinion: We must cater for the non-believers in our primary schools [Independent.ie]
- Published: 24 November 2010
The area of primary education has for decades been fraught with pitfalls for the rapidly increasing non-religious community.
This community is now larger than all of the other non-Catholics of our State added together. Apart from a comparative handful of Educate Together (ET) schools, we have no choice but to send our children to religious-run schools.
The problem with the denominational-run schools is that they rarely accommodate withdrawal of children from religious instruction, and do not provide non-religious moral education. Both of these rights are in the Irish constitution but are ignored by most school principals, managers and patrons.
This is not to deny that some schools do make an effort but they are very much the exception, and it is strange that in a society which is increasingly focused on childrens' rights this injustice is overlooked.
Overlooked not just by the schools, even civil and human-rights watchdogs make little play with this discrimination.
The Catholic Church has indicated it is willing to help solve the situation by making available to the State a network of school structures.
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