So, on what basis should faith schools be allowed to choose children when they are oversubscribed? And who should decide this?
Full Story: www.guardian.co.uk
Parents ‘vital’ to issue of patronage [Examiner.ie]
- Published: 03 May 2011
THE importance of consultation with parents is stressed by the Commission on School Accommodation when it comes to deciding who will be the patron of any new schools that are to be opened.
A system of establishing new schools must protect and optimise the resources of the state but should not make assumptions regarding the values and choices of parents without proper consultation," it says.The expert group which compiled the report, led by the commission, says the principle of parental input into the type of school to be provided should be preserved. It noted the survey undertaken by the Department of Education in Gorey, Co Wexford last year to help decide who should be patron to a new second-level school in the town.
Full Story: www.examiner.ie
Church-run state schools have reached the end of their term [Guardian.co.uk]
- Published: 03 May 2011
The church has been involved in our schools for two centuries. For the sake of social justice, it is now time to close that chapter. The question: What choice for faith schools?
Most people don't want religious schools as part of our state-funded education system at all. When people are asked what groups they do not want to see running schools (such as private companies, charities, parent groups, religious groups), more people say religious groups than anything else. It's difficult to say for certain why, but certainly most people say they think religiously selective schools damage social cohesion and the socially selective nature of church schools in particular is a long-standing cause of complaint.
Repeated studies have shown that where there is religious selection in church-run state schools there is also social selection. A report by academics at the LSE in 2009 reaffirmed that the range of admissions criteria allowed scope for school "discretion", but social selection need not even be deliberate on the part of church-run state schools. Even the most socially progressive school will find, if its admissions criteria allow for religious selection, that it is middle-class parents with the time and the means to play the system whose children will end up attending the school. The pupils admitted to religiously selective schools are more academically able and less likely to be on free school meals than others in the area. They show all the attributes of socially selected children.
Full Story: www.guardian.co.uk
Global positioning [LeaderMagazine.co.uk]
- Published: 03 May 2011
PISA data shows English and Welsh schools’ performance falling behind that of other countries. Or does it? And is importing other nations’ education policies the way to move up the tables? It’s not that simple, says Ian Bauckham.
International comparative data on educational achievement has suddenly become headline news. Much of the white paper The Importance of Teaching, which applies to England only, is predicated on an analysis of the performance of English students in comparison with those in other countries. The Prime Minister’s introduction cites falling performance in science, literacy and mathematics in the OECD’s 2006 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) report, and the theme is taken up and developed throughout the white paper.
Full Story: www.leadermagazine.co.uk
What choice for faith schools? [Guardian.co.uk]
- Published: 03 May 2011
On what basis should faith schools choose children when they are oversubscribed – and who should decide? The bishop of Oxford, John Pritchard, caused a stir when he said that Church of England schools should aim for no more than 10% of their children to be from Christian families. Is this a long-overdue gesture towards fairness, or is it a proposal for institutional suicide? The Roman Catholic church has fought off successfully any suggestion that it should water down the faith commitment required to enter the schools it operates. Despite this, there are many Christian schools in areas of large-scale Muslim settlement that have a majority of Muslim children: in some cases approaching 100%.
Minister on collision course with gaelscoileanna [Independent.ie]
- Published: 03 May 2011
EDUCATION Minister Ruairi Quinn faces a showdown with the country's growing number of gaelscoileanna over controversial proposals for setting up new primary schools.
They claim plans for approving schools in the future will not protect the minority position of all-Irish education.
And they dismiss as unworkable a suggestion that the issue could be dealt with by setting up all-Irish units within English-medium schools.
The proposals are contained in a new report done for the Department of Education by the Commission of School Accommodation.
Objections have been lodged by Gaelscoileanna Teo, a support body for 139 Irish primary schools in the Republic, and An Foras Patrunachta, a patron of 57 Irish language schools.
The commission reviewed the procedures for the setting up of new primary schools in light of the rapid population growth and demand from parents for greater diversity.
It was concerned with the question of physical need for a new school, which is separate, although linked, to patronage -- the matter of who runs the schools.
Primary school pupil numbers are predicted to grow by 64,000 by 2018, some of whom will be accommodated in existing schools. However, there will be a need for new schools in areas that have grown rapidly in recent years, such as west Dublin.
Current rules allow for a new primary school to be established once 17 pupils have been identified, but the new plans will require higher minimum numbers and up to three class streams for each year.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
