Parental demand at heart of school patronage, says Quinn [IrishTimes]
- Published: 28 June 2011
PATRONS OF new schools will be obliged to show there is parental demand for their kind of educational approach, Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn announced yesterday.
He said the new arrangements mean that decisions over school patronage will be more transparent and create more choice for parents.
“Parental preferences should be at the heart of considerations about the type of school to be recognised,” Mr Quinn said.
A total of 40 new schools are planned to come on stream over the coming six years to help cater to a growing school-going population.
At present almost 90 per cent of primary schools are under the patronage of the Catholic Church. It is also involved in the patronage of about 400 of the 700 second-level schools.
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