Anseo.net - If I were the Minister for Education – Details, episodes & analysis

 I've been writing about religious control of schools for well over a decade now, and I found that people tend to throw the same arguments out to me every time I talk about it. And there's a lot and lots of different arguments out there. The most common of which I think. And I could be wrong on this one, but the one that I'm hearing most of all these days is the argument that parents want Catholic schools, to which I'm always wondering what parents are they talking about because I'm a parent and I know lots of parents who don't want their children being being formed in a faith that isn't theirs.

But that is not what I'm going to be talking about in this podcast, because another argument that I've heard and it gets thrown around, is Catholic schools internationally. And they often say that Catholic schools in England are well very sought after so we shouldn’t lose Catholic schools in Ireland.

We often hear the argument that the Church is determined to keep its grip on education. But if the sacraments were removed from the school day and shifted to after-school parish programmes, I’d argue the Catholic Church wouldn’t be the ones who’d lose out the most.

There are, after all, a lot of people with a vested interest in keeping things just as they are.

In this episode I explore who the real losers might be during Communion Season and then shift into another theory as to why divestment and reconfiguration can’t work

 If you have been listening to the first half of this episode where I covered the education stories from January to June, you'll notice that the first half of 2024 in schools was not exactly filled with hope. With special education slowly but surely been stripped away and the world falling apart with war. Could the second half of the year, bring some hope? Let see...

If I was the Minister for Education, I think I'd hire my guest this week as my deputy! If you don't know Annie Asgard, you are in for a treat. Annie and I could talk about anything but we decided to focus on EAL (English as an Additional Language) teaching. It's relevant always but in particular now with so many Ukrainian children arriving into schools over the last number of weeks. It's hard to believe but some schools are welcoming children without English for the first time! Annie shares her expertise with us with some fantastic tips but also some pitfalls to avoid.

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As I’m sure you’ve probably figured out by now, I could talk about the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism forever and I’m sure I’ll be coming back to it many times again. There are so many stories that blossomed from it, whether it was the struggle for Castlebar or the scaremongering in Malahide, and I’m sure there will be many more stories as Ireland stutters its way out of church control of schools, for example, I imagine the reconfiguration story, which I discussed a few weeks ago is going to be very interesting. However, I’ve spoken a lot about the past ten years so it’s only fair to let you know what I would do if I were the Minister for Education. After all, it is the point of this podcast.

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The paradoxical relationship that most Irish people have with the church baffles me. I can't understand why people care so little about the fact that religion permeates the entire day of 95% of primary schools in the country, even to the point of defending it when there are moves to change schools over to multi-denominational bodies. Why would thousands of people take to the streets in protest when there was a glimmer that the church was going to be allowed to retain ownership of a new maternity hospital on their grounds, and yet when every year several primary schools are built with State money, there isn’t a murmur when the building is gifted back to the church? Why is it that the vast majority of Irish people voted against marriage equality in 2015 because it was abhorrent to them that two people of the same sex were not allowed to be married, and yet they happily allow the message that the only acceptable relationship where marriage can occur is between a man and a woman, is given to their children without question? In this episode, I argue that the Irish school system acts similarly to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy in the US army back in the day.

In this episode, we continue our exploration of why the Pluralism and Patronage Forum didn't succeed as we move to Malahide, where the final nail in the coffin for divestment took place. 

In this episode we focus on one of the maddest sagas in the divestment process: Castlebar. If ever there was a school that didn't think they'd see the light of day, Castlebar ETNS was it. From cowsheds to Cromwell, this was an example of why the Pluralism and Patronage Forum was never going to work.

• Image of Burren NS, which was offered to Castlebar ETNS
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Choice is always good, right? In this part I try to convince you that when it comes to schools, it is the root of all that's wrong in the system. Furthermore, I try to prove to you that unless you tick the Catholic box in the census, it's unlikely you have choice anyway.

On 10th April 2022, The Forum for Patronage and Pluralism Report will be 10 years old. In the first of a short series of episodes analysing its failure, I look at the history of the Irish Education System and question perceived truths about why everyone is so keen to run schools. 🎙Listen and subscribe to this podcast on your favourite app here. 

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