Government urged to act as survey shows teachers want schools to be more secular

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

Opposition politicians have called on the Government to act on a survey that found teachers believe schools should be more secular.

The survey, issued by Civica to members of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), found that just 4 per cent of teachers think preparing students for sacraments should be the responsibility of primary schools.

The research, carried out on behalf of the largest teachers’ union on the island, representing 45,000 primary school teachers in the Republic, indicated that 47 per cent believe the family should take responsibility, while 30 per cent said it should be the parish.

The 34-question survey collected data online from 1,049 respondents from January 8th to 17th.

The vast majority (88 percent) said they taught in Catholic schools, 5 per cent in Educate Together, and 4 per cent in Church of Ireland schools.

A large majority (83 percent) said children in all schools should be taught about other religions, with just 9 per cent saying they should not.

63 per cent said primary school education should have secular patrons, while 37 per cent said they should be religious.

A slight majority (57 per cent) said faith formation should not take place in schools, while 43 per cent said it should.

Asked whether religion should be taught in schools by the class teacher, 46 per cent said no and 39 per cent said yes.

The Social Democrats and People Before Profit called for the Government to take action given the findings.

Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins said the survey confirms “widespread support among primary school teachers for a reduced role of religion in our classrooms”.

“The results reflect a growing consensus in Irish society that our education system must evolve to reflect the diversity of modern Ireland,” the party’s education spokeswoman said.

“It is therefore not surprising that the INTO survey found that most primary teachers want secular patrons for schools and believe faith formation should no longer take place in the classroom.”

Ms Cummins said the last programme for government committed to delivering 400 multi-denominational primary schools by 2030, but this was “highly unlikely” to be achieved.

She also expressed concern that a proposal for a citizens’ assembly on education appears to have been “watered down” to a national convention on education.

Then-taoiseach Simon Harris said in July that the Government had “not yet” considered the question of establishing a citizens’ assembly on education.

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said Ireland’s education system remains “mired in the Dark Ages”.

“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are afraid the answers they would get from 100 ordinary people would force them to challenge the Catholic Church, something they remain determined to avoid,” he said.

Mr Murphy said he would introduce a bill in the next Dáil term that would repeal laws that allow for teachers to be discriminated against on the basis of their religious or secular beliefs.

“The Catholic Church runs nine out of 10 primary schools in this state. This means that non-Catholic primary school teachers are discriminated against in job applications, forced to obtain qualifications in teaching a religion they don’t believe in, and then are forced to teach that religion.

“They are also exposed to an ever-present risk of discrimination, and even of losing their jobs, because of their beliefs.

“It is ludicrous that in this day and age, teachers can still be discriminated against because of their religious beliefs.”

The survey was published to coincide with the INTO annual conference being held this week in Galway.