Executive Summary of the Joint Managerial Body Submission to the Joint
Committee on Education and Science on Thursday 23rd April 2009.
Background
The Joint Managerial Body (JMB) represents the management of almost four hundred
voluntary secondary schools in the Republic of Ireland of which 56 are fee charging.
The JMB negotiates, represents, advises and supports the boards of
management/governors and school management at both national and local level in the
network of voluntary secondary schools. All but 21 of the voluntary secondary
schools are under the trusteeship of Catholic trustees and the remaining 21 are also
denominational in character with the trustees representing minority faith traditions.
Schools which charge fees
Post-primary schools which charge fees do not form a homogeneous sector; they have
emerged through the evolution of each school in its own right. This evolution has
taken place in the context of the decision of the trustees of each individual school in
the first instance to establish a school in a particular location and then the
development of the school has been heavily influenced by both local and national
events.
All voluntary secondary schools charged fees before the Government’s decision to
introduce free post-primary education in 1967. The 56 fee charging schools have
evolved from the voluntary secondary schools that decided, for a variety of reasons,
not to join the Free Education Scheme in 1967.
Each of the 400 voluntary secondary schools represented by the JMB has published
an admissions policy that complies fully with section 15 (2) (d) of the Education Act
1998. Applications for enrolment to a voluntary secondary school, including the 56
fee charging schools, are processed in accordance with a school’s admissions policy.
Historical Development
Article 42.1 of the Irish Constitution gives protection to the family as the primary
educator of the child and also provides for parental choice in the selection of a school
for a child. Article 44.2.4 states that legislation providing State aid shall not
discriminate between schools under the management of different religious
denominations ….
In section 6 (e) of the Education Act 1998 one of the objectives of the Act is to ensure
parental choice.
The majority of Catholic secondary schools entered into the Free Education Scheme
in 1967. In return the management authorities of these schools received a tuition grant
in lieu of the fee that had been levied by all voluntary secondary schools prior to
1967.
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Unfortunately the level of the tuition grant was pitched at a level significantly lower
than the fee that had formerly existed. The inequality created by this decision remains
in place today and has resulted in voluntary secondary schools, in the Free Education
Scheme, receiving on average €90 per pupil less per year in grant aid from the State
than a Community school and €200 per pupil less per year than a Vocational school.
For Minority Faith 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.
The changes proposed in 1967 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 as a result of mergers from 69 1 to the current 26.
Such was the level of concern regarding Minority Faith 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.2
Equitable treatment was achieved by placing all voluntary secondary schools from the
Minority Faith sector in the Free Education Scheme, while continuing to allow them
to charge fees:
In particular:
 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.
 Minority Faith schools were given all grants that free education Catholic
schools were entitled to; in others words, Minority Faith schools were treated
as being in the free scheme.
The Free Education Scheme to the Present
Since the introduction of the Free Education Scheme in 1967 all fee-charging schools
are in receipt of payment of salaries for a quota of teachers. Historically this quota
was established on the same basis across all post-primary schools. The quota figure
for all post-primary schools for the past ten years has been calculated on the basis of a
pupil teacher ratio (PTR) of 18 to 1.
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Budget 2009 created a two-tier approach to the calculation of the quota of teaching
staffs in schools. The quota from the school year 2009/10 onwards will be calculated
on the basis of a PTR of 19 to 1 in schools in the Free Education Scheme and 20 to 1
for all fee-charging schools.. This change will lead to a significant loss of State
funded teaching posts in schools which charge fees.
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. The Education Act 1998
includes 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.
While society in general has become increasingly secular, each denominational school
has been able to re-state its purpose clearly.
The Education Act 1998 section 15 (2) (d) places an obligation on each board of
management/governors to publish an admissions policy and to include references to
the admission and participation of students with special educational needs. This
section also ensures parents of their right to choose a school.
A parent who makes an enquiry about enrolling his/her child in any recognised school
in the State is entitled to receive a copy of the school’s admissions policy and have
his/her application for a place for his/her child to be processed in accordance with the
terms of the above section of the Education Act 1998.
If an application to have a child enrolled in a school is refused a parent is entitled to
appeal that decision to the Secretary General of the Dept of Education and Science
under section 29 of the Education Act 1998. There is no evidence indicating any
unusual patterns of section 29 Appeals associated with any particular type or
group of schools.
The above pieces of legislation apply to all 400 schools represented by the JMB
including schools which charge fees. All schools which charge fees strictly adhere to
the above legislation.
Providing Education to a) Economically Disadvantaged Students and b) Students
who have Intellectual or Physical Special Needs
Parents choose to send their children to a particular school and to invest, in most cases
at some personal sacrifice, in their children’s education. They are exercising their
right to choose and to make education a priority in their lives.
It is a feature of the Irish post-primary education system that parents give careful
consideration to the choice of post-primary schools for their children. The final
decision on the choice of school is often a complex one influenced by a number of
factors. It is one of the great strengths of the post-primary system that denominational
and State schools are available to parents. By exercising their freedom in the choice of
a school parents are clearly indicating a desire for such a choice to continue to be
available.
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a) Economically Disadvantaged Students
Minority Faith schools receive a capitation grant in the form of a block grant for the
support of needy pupils in the schools. This process is organised through applications
being submitted to a central committee established for this purpose. Thus the Minority
Faith schools provide for the entire spectrum of their community including the
economically disadvantaged.
The trustees of Catholic fee-charging schools are very aware of their obligation to
address the issue of inequality. Many different approaches have developed. Some
schools have established bursaries and scholarship schemes which are available to
support a percentage of children in the school. In addition fee reduction and waiver
schemes are in place to support families who find themselves falling on tough times.
Schools, both Free Education and fee-charging in the voluntary secondary sector, are
noted for their commitment to social justice programmes. Many very effective
programmes have been initiated in voluntary secondary schools in response both to
local social justice issues and global injustice and deprivation, especially in the
Developing World.
b) Students who have Intellectual or Physical Special Needs
The legislation quoted earlier and equality legislation rightly obliges all schools to
treat equally all applicants for places in the school. All of the 400 voluntary secondary
schools, including fee-charging schools, welcome students with special educational
needs. Applications from parents with a child with special educational needs are
processed as per the school’s admissions policy which must be in compliance with
section 15 (2) (d) of the Education Act 1998.
Catholic fee-charging schools must employ learning support teachers from their own
resources to support students who require learning support as the DES refuses to
provide an allocation of teachers for learning support to these schools as in all other
schools.
Many fee-charging schools supplement special needs resource hours through the
employment of additional teachers to support students with special educational needs.
Partnership in Education in Ireland
All voluntary secondary schools are forced into significant fund-raising as a result of
the serious discrepancy in funding received from the State. This a historical feature
based on the level of tuition grants set at the time of the introduction of the Free
Education Scheme and the failure of successive governments to address this issue in
the intervening years.
The fact is that the payment of fees subsidises the lack of proper state funding for
education in Ireland and not the other way around as is sometimes suggested. In
schools that do not charge fees, parents, teachers and school management are involved
in significant levels of fund-raising as a matter of course.
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What is at times ignored is the saving to the public funds that accrues from students
being educated in schools that seek to raise funds through the charging of fees.
Remember that the parents of students in the fee-charging schools are taxpayers and
are entitled to free post-primary education for their children. It is important also to
point out that teachers have to be provided for the students in the overall education
system at any given time regardless of the school attended.
In effect, the fee-paying school model is the public private partnership model at its
most effective. The State contributes to the fee-paying school through teachers’
salaries and the parents contribute the remainder through fees and other fund-raising
ventures. This results in a significant saving to the State on its obligation to provide
free post-primary education to all its citizens.
Budget 2009
Budget 2009 has had a major impact on all schools. It must be recognised that the
effects of such cut-backs will create major difficulties for all voluntary secondary
schools. Indeed the severity of the cut-backs are such that it threatens the future
viability of a number of voluntary secondary schools, both Free Education and feecharging.
Schools that charge fees are set, from next September, to experience a serious staffing
reduction from the DES, without any reference to the circumstances of each school.
It must be noted that fee-charging schools are important private employers in the local
community. This is especially true in the 34 boarding schools around the country.
Budget 2009 will undoubtedly result in redundancies in these schools.
Following the introduction of free education in the Republic, Minority Faith schools
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 purpose of each minority school 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.3
The Budget 2009 fundamentally changed the way the State views and treats Minority
Faith schools. While the “Block Grant” remains in place, all Minority Faith schools
in the Voluntary Sector have been, in effect, removed from the Free Education
Scheme.
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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.
For a Methodist, Presbyterian, Church of Ireland or Quaker parent, the issue of choice
of schools of a particular ethos is paramount. 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. 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.
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
introducing the Free Education Scheme over forty years ago.
The Joint Managerial Body, in representing all voluntary secondary schools, raises
this point in relation to Minority Faith schools to highlight that Budget 2009 was a
blunt instrument which had a major impact on all voluntary secondary schools
including the fee-charging group.
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