Catering for disadvantage:
the funding of Protestant second level schools
Position Paper of Protestant Secondary Schools in the Republic of
Ireland
Background
Since the foundation of the Irish state, Protestant communities have been treated
sensitively. Successive governments have made particular effort to ensure that
minority communities have been treated fairly and equitably. While this has been
evident in a number of areas, an appropriate education has always been viewed as
especially important to citizens coming from minority faiths.
Education for children in Protestant communities has historically been considered
very important:
1.
The Ethos of a School
Schools were set up by many different minorities: Methodist, Presbyterian, Church of
Ireland, the Religious Society of Friends and Jewish. They were set up in close
association with religious congregations/ local church organisations to serve their
needs. At both primary and secondary level this remains the case. While the general
population viewed these schools as “Protestant”, each particular community went to
considerable effort and expense to ensure their own schools.
Such schools were (and continue to be) viewed as critically important in the
religious community, as part of which they were founded, and from which they
were funded. The religious ethos of a particular school was the single greatest issue
when parents selected one to which their child would be sent.
2.
The importance of a Boarding School
Parents would send their children some distances to board so that an appropriate
school could be attended. Boarding thus became an integral part of these schools,
not for reasons of prestige, but because boarding was the only method of ensuring an
appropriate education could be provided for such dispersed minority populations.
3.
The Funding of Protestant Schools
The cost of providing education for Protestant minorities fell on the shoulders of each
particular church. Schools were set up at considerable expense, often by communities
that made considerable sacrifices. Past Pupils Unions existed, often with the primary
objective to raise funds to ensure that no member of a religious community would be
denied an appropriate education due to financial constraints. (This philosophy and
approach continues today.)
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Catholic schools were staffed to a significant extent by members of religious orders
who passed their salaries directly to the schools. Because Protestant schools were
staffed exclusively by lay professionals, and because boarding houses and all of the
necessary ancillary facilities had to be provided, fees were an absolute necessity in
those schools.
The Introduction of Free Education.
The introduction of free education in 1967 was the most significant development in
Irish education in the second half of the 20th century. For Protestant schools, there
was a particular dilemma: boarding was essential if the needs of a dispersed
population were to be catered for and this would require the charging of fees. In
addition, Protestant schools did not have that extra source of income that Catholic
schools had when Priests, Brothers or Sisters ploughed their salaries back into their
schools.
As a result, the minority sectors had to consider carefully how each of their schools
would operate in future. Many Protestant schools merged with others. Of these
merged schools, four went into the Comprehensive sector, three under the patronage
of the Church of Ireland (two in Dublin and one in Cork) and one under the patronage
of the Donegal Protestant Board of Education1 (Donegal). All others remained in the
Voluntary Secondary Sector.
The changes were hugely significant and parents from minority communities were
concerned that their schools, that had been so carefully built up, would now be treated
fairly. The number of schools from the minority sector declined from 43 2 to the
current 26.
Such was the level of concern regarding Protestant schools that the Minister for
Education at the time went to great lengths to ensure that these schools were treated
“favourably because of the nature of their problems”, and made this clear in Dail
debates at the time.3
Equitable treatment was achieved by placing all Voluntary Schools from the minority
sector in the free scheme: teachers were provided and grants given in the same
manner as to Catholic Schools in the Free Scheme.4
In particular:
1
The Donegal Protestant Board of Education, established under the Educational Endowment Scheme
1891, consists of four nominees of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and four nominees of the Church
of Ireland who together appoint a representative of the Methodist Conference and a representative of
other Protestant denominations. The Board, as so constituted, annually co-opts up to a maximum of six
other persons.
2
From approximately 79 Minority Faith schools at independence, this number declined to 43 schools in
1965. Seamas O’Buachalla: Education Policy in Twentieth Century Ireland, Wolfhound Press 1988.
3
Dail Eireann Vol 230 26th October 1967, Financing of Protestant Schools.
4
Catholic Fee Paying schools were also given capitation grants until these were withdrawn in the
1980s by the then Minister for Education G Hussey.
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1
The per capita grant made available to all Catholic Schools was paid “en
bloc” to a committee (the Secondary Education Committee) representing
the main Protestant Churches, and this was to be dispersed to minority
families in need of support, so that fees could be paid. This has been
called the “Block Grant” and remains in place.
2
Protestant schools were given all grants that free Catholic schools were
entitled to; in others words, Minority Faith schools were treated as being in
the free scheme.
Following Free Education and into the 21st Century
Following the introduction of free education in the Republic, Minority Faith schools
continued to merge to ensure survival. Each school continued to charge fees in line
with the needs of the community being served, and while each school existed to serve
the needs of its own community, each school very consciously welcomed pupils of
other faiths. The years following the introduction of free education were the years of
the Northern Troubles and Protestant communities wished to contribute positively to
the education of young Irish people.
Despite being in existence to provide primarily for the needs of their own minority
community, many Protestant schools had earned a “good” reputation and this also
attracted parents of other faiths. While the charging of fees was a method of ensuring
adequate funding, it also allowed Protestant schools to provide facilities that the state
simply did not give to schools as a matter of course.
Nonetheless, the purpose of each minority school remained (and remains) simple: to
provide an appropriate education for the children from each respective community
whether Methodist, Presbyterian, Church of Ireland, Religious Society of Friends or
Jewish.
Subsequent Ministers for Education and Science have continued to recognise the need
to provide state support for Minority Faith schools and have pointed to the dispersed
and scattered Protestant population as a particular reason for this support.5
The 1998 Education Act
The 1998 Education Act is the most significant piece of Irish Education legislation
since the introduction of free education in the 1960s. Central to this legislation is the
requirement that each school will have a Patron and a Board of Management that will
protect the ethos of the individual school, and that each school will be run in
partnership with the community for which the school is provided. This legislation has
afforded each Protestant school the opportunity firmly to state its religious ethos.
5
Reference Minister N Dempsey, Dail debates, Vol 571, 2 October 2003; Minister M Hanafin Dail
debates, Vol 638, 2 October 2007.
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While society in general has become increasingly secular, each Protestant school has
been able to re-state its purpose clearly.
While prioritising admission for pupils from a particular denomination is permitted
under the Equal Status Act (2000), all schools have continued to welcome pupils from
other faiths. It has been suggested that non-Protestant pupils attending minority
schools undermines the claim that these schools are, in fact, serving their original
purpose. It has also been suggested that the Minority Faith schools within the
Voluntary Secondary Sector are simply fee-charging and elitist schools. Neither of
these arguments have any basis in fact and they usually emanate from those who have
little experience or involvement with Protestant schools.
The Current Position of Protestant Secondary Schools in the Republic
There are now 26 Protestant second level schools in the Republic of Ireland. Five are
Comprehensive Schools (four under the patronage of the Church of Ireland and one
under the patronage of the Donegal Protestant Board of Education). The remaining
21 schools are Voluntary Secondary Schools owned or associated with a particular
Protestant denomination. Of these 21 schools, the majority remain boarding schools
continuing to offer a dispersed minority population the option of sending children to a
school of an appropriate ethos.
Thus the purpose of the Protestant schools in the Republic has remained the same as it
has always been. However, the society in which these schools work has altered: there
has been a significant shift of loyalty from the majority Catholic Church in particular
and a secularisation of society in general. This may explain a lack of understanding
of what these schools are about on the part of those who are not involved with, or who
do not have an interest in, Protestant schools.
In addition to the Protestant schools, there is also one Jewish school.
Budget 2009
The Budget announced in November 2008, and subsequent announcements by the
Minister for Education and Science, Mr Batt O’Keeffe, fundamentally changed the
way the state views and treats minority faith schools. While the “Block Grant”
remains in place, all Protestant schools in the Voluntary Sector have been, in effect,
removed from the free education scheme. This is confirmed by:


The removal of all grants, including for example those for caretakers and
secretaries, that are payable to schools in the free scheme (totalling
€2.8million for the minority schools).
The classification of all voluntary Protestant schools as “outside the free
education scheme”6 for the purposes of allocating teachers at a higher pupil-
6
Teacher allocation documentation published in February 2009 and available on Department of
Education and Science website: Teacher Allocation.
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teacher ratio (20:1) than that which applies in schools in the free scheme
(19:1).
The allocation of teachers to schools in the Protestant sector on a different basis (20:1)
means the state now provides fewer teachers for all Voluntary Protestant schools than
for other schools in the free scheme. Protestant schools as a whole now receive a
lower level of teacher provision than the Catholic sector. This is discrimination.
While the Minister has argued that the maintenance of the “Block Grant” sees to the
needs of poorer Protestants, the removal of grants and the changes in teacher
allocation will mean either a reduction in the quality of education offered, or an
increase in fees paid by parents. Either way, those from the minority community who
wish to send their children to an appropriate school are now singularly disadvantaged.
What has been lost in the debate on this issue is the significant differences between
the Catholic fee-paying sector and the Protestant schools. For a Catholic parent who
wishes their child to attend a Catholic school, there is choice, and often considerable
choice. For a Methodist, Presbyterian, Church of Ireland or Quaker parent, there is
not the same choice. Indeed, in rural Ireland there is often no choice: sending a child
to board in an appropriate school is what must be done, and paying for boarding is
part of this. What has changed is the perception that such a parent is deserving of
financial support from the state. For some “needy Protestants” there is Block Grant
support through the Secondary Education Committee; for other Protestant parents,
there is no support, simply an expectation that they should pay. This is not equal
treatment by any standards.
The profound inequality of this is very stark for parents from one of the minority
religions in Ireland. Catholic parents have a free education option for their children;
Methodist parents do not. Catholic parents can send their child to an appropriate
school in the free scheme; Presbyterian parents do not have this option. Catholic
parents have the option of availing of state-paid teacher provision of 19:1 in their
local voluntary secondary school; Church of Ireland parents are told they are entitled
to less.
Such difference in treatment is difficult to imagine in a Republic that seeks to support
minorities. Such treatment is precisely what Minister O’Malley sought to avoid when
the free scheme was established in the 1960s. Such treatment is contrary to Article 42
of the Irish Constitution.7
Article 42 section 3.1 of the Irish Constitution states: “The State shall not oblige parents in violation
of their conscience and lawful preference to send their children to schools established by the State, or to
any particular type of school designated by the State.”
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Examples of discrimination that will arise:
The case of a Church of Ireland family living in Co Leitrim
Church of Ireland parents living in Leitrim wish to send their two children to a Church
of Ireland school. The Royal School in Cavan provides one of the few options for
these parents.
As a boarding school the Royal School must charge fees. With the changes
announced as part of Budget 2009, this school has a greater pupil-teacher ratio than
any of the local Catholic schools. Not only are these parents faced with sending their
children to a school some distance away, and to a school that must charge fees to
exist, they now find that the state disadvantages this school with a greater pupilteacher ratio. They are also perplexed as to why the local Catholic schools receive
additional grants that have been withdrawn from the Church of Ireland school they
wish their children to attend.
In essence, this family do not have a choice if they wish their children to attend a
school that reflects the ethos of their small community. They are aware that their
Catholic neighbours have a number of local schools to choose from, but their own
choices are distant boarding schools.
This family will apply for support from the SEC and will receive assistance with the
fees. They have been informed that this SEC block grant money comes to needy
Protestants instead of the per-capita grant paid to local Catholic schools. They still do
not understand why the state believes it is acceptable to provide fewer teachers to the
Church of Ireland school, and no grants for the basic running of the school that local
Catholic schools receive.
The case of a Methodist family living in Clonskeagh, Dublin
Methodist parents living in Clonskeagh wish to send their three children to a school
that reflects their beliefs and ethos. Luckily, the state’s only Methodist secondary
school, Wesley College, is situated in Ballinteer, so while boarding is provided for
many pupils at this school, it will not be required for this family.
As a boarding school, this family knows that the school must charge fees. They are
aware that the Methodist Church in Ireland owns the school and despite being a very
small community in number, has generously supported this school with the provision
of lands and facilities. The parents in this case are prepared to pay fees that are
necessary to enable this school to pay for the up-keep of the buildings, the provision
of a chaplain and the maintenance of boarding houses. They will not qualify for
assistance from the Block Grant, but these parents are happy that the deal struck at the
time of the introduction of free education means that the per-capita grant that is
awarded to Catholic schools is distributed in a different way in the Protestant sector;
they know that other parents who cannot afford the fees in Wesley are being
supported by the Block Grant to attend Wesley College, and they are happy that this
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school, and the Past Pupils Union, also assist those who cannot afford the fees. In
fact, it is a school of just this ethos that these parents wish for their children.
These parents are appalled by the November budget. Because, of necessity, their
chosen school charges fees, the state has decided to cut all grants including those for
caretakers and secretaries, while maintaining such grants for Catholic schools. They
are taken aback that fewer state-paid teachers will be provided for their children.
They are taxpayers and contribute the same as other citizens and always assumed that
their children would be treated equitably when they attended secondary school.
Yet these parents do not have the choice of their Catholic neighbours. They
particularly want a Methodist school in the same way that they know many of their
neighbours particularly want a Catholic school. Their Catholic neighbours have
choice of Catholic schools in South County Dublin, many of which do not charge
fees; they have only one Methodist school available and this school is provided with
less support (fewer teachers and fewer grants) than local Catholic schools.
Yet the parents in this case are aware that many of their neighbours whose children
attend “free” local schools engage in significant fundraising to support their children’s
education. Because such support is formalised in a fee-paying structure, their school
is discriminated against.
The case of a Presbyterian family living in Carlow
A Presbyterian family living in Carlow considers that the only appropriate school that
is available for their children is Kilkenny College. While this school is under the
patronage of the Church of Ireland, as a Protestant school, this is the school of choice.
Indeed, there is no other Protestant school within a reasonable distance from the
family home.
Kilkenny College offers five-day boarding which is very suitable. As a boarding
school, it is necessary to charge fees. This will be a significant cost for this family,
but fortunately the family will qualify for a small amount of Block Grant assistance
with the fees.
The November Budget is a total surprise for this Carlow family. They understood that
the purpose of Protestant schools was to provide for families such as them. They
understood that the categorizing of Protestant schools within the free scheme was an
obvious way of providing equitable treatment for minorities. The allegation that their
school is elitist is incomprehensible. Don’t they receive assistance with the fees from
the means-tested Block Grant? Doesn’t their school cater for a significant number of
poorer families in similar circumstances? This is not elitism; this is inclusion.
This family does not have a choice if their children are to attend an appropriate
school. Has the Government abandoned support for minority religious communities?
While Minister O’Keeffe has insisted that this is not the case, his statement that the
SEC system would remain while he is minister is sounding alarm bells. What is
certainly clear is that the Minister has removed all Protestant schools in the Voluntary
Sector from the free scheme and ended the equitable treatment that has existed since
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the 1960s. With the removal of grants (the most significant of which continue to go to
free Catholic schools) and with the increase in the pupil teacher ratio, Kilkenny
College is now clearly discriminated against.
Indeed, because the majority of Protestant schools are fee-paying, they are losing state
supported teachers in greater numbers than any other sector.
But this family do not have a choice if their children are to attend a school that reflects
the ethos that they would wish for their children as is their constitutional right. At this
stage, it is not clear whether the fees will have to increase to cope with the cut in state
support, or whether the school will make do with the fewer teachers than is provided
for in local Catholic schools.
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