National School (Ireland) - Current Status

Current Status

Patronage of a national school is a privilege normally given to those who provide initial financial support, and, until recently, required a local annual contribution. With decreasing support for the churches in Ireland, the local contribution was recently abolished.

As of the summer of 2007, there were 3,279 national schools, broken down by denominational patronage as follows:

There is a widespread misunderstanding in Ireland as to the religious nature of national schools - for instance, there is no such thing as a Catholic national school (and none is so named) - people of all religions being taught together in the same school is at the core of what national schooling in Ireland means, and all of the national schools have "no religious discrimination at entry" as part of their ethos. However, Section 7(3)(c) of the Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2004 provides that a school does not violate anti-discrimination legislation where "it admits persons of a particular religious denomination in preference to others or it refuses to admit as a student a person who is not of that denomination and, in the case of a refusal, it is proved that the refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school". Although recently introduced religious discrimination, primarily by the Catholic Church, is incompatible with the Equal Status Act, the Equality Authority has thus far failed to react against it.

Ethos, or characteristic spirit, is an important concept in the any legal understanding of education in Ireland. It is best defined (legally) in the 1998 Education Act. "the characteristic spirit of the school as determined by the cultural, educational, moral, religious, social, linguistic and spiritual values and traditions which inform and are characteristic of the objectives and conduct of the school"

Co-education is the predominant form of school, with 2,915 co-educational schools, and 364 single-sex schools predominantly located in larger towns and cities. However, even in Dublin and Cork, the two largest cities, co-educational schools predominate.

In 2008, the Irish Primary Principals Network, among other groups and individuals, called for fresh thinking in both the areas of funding and governance of national schools, as well as other types of primary school. Many feel this is a move towards complete secularisation of such schools, by removing the religious patronage and possibly having control of the schools handed over to the state.

In the past, local people were expected to contribute towards capital expenses of the school, whilst teachers' salaries are paid by the state. The day-to-day business of the school is managed by a principal or headteacher, as with other schools. However, the state oversees the curriculum and makes regular inspections to ensure that standards are kept and national policies are followed.