A GROUP OF Protestant Fine Gael councillors have written to Taoiseach Enda Kenny saying that changes to pupil/teacher ratios are discriminating against Protestant minorities.
The letter, signed by 11 current and two retired councillors, requests that the Taoiseach intervene in the matter as a result of the ‘intransigence of Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn’.
It explains that changes to pupil-teacher ratios for fee-paying schools has caused a number of fee-paying Protestant schools to enter the free scheme which places a ’further drain on the Exchequer’ and discriminates against Protestants.
Schools not entering the free scheme are being forced to up their fees according to the councillors, ”putting Protestant schools beyond the means of ordinary Protestants”. The acceptance of this situation is ‘not the Fine Gael way’, they add.
In 2011, Wilson’s Hospital School became the first protestant school to drop tuition fees and go public while earlier this year, Kilkenny College, one of the country’s oldest Church of Ireland schools, also took the decision to drop fees.
Rejected
Allegations of discrimination have been strongly rejected by Labour Party TD Robert Dowds who says that the pupil/teacher ratio of 1:23 in private schools is the same irrespective of whether they are Protestant or Catholic.
“In reality, all Protestant primary schools have held the door open to others, including those of Catholic and non-Catholic background, ” he said.
In the case of secondary schools, Deputy Dowds says that the reality is that many Protestant parents have not to sent their children to local Protestant schools for some years due to high fees. He says that in the case of Kilkenny College, where the Protestant ethos has been protected, many parents would welcome the change to free tuition.
“As the Heads of Agreement between Kilkenny College and the Department of Education indicate, the ethos of the school is fully recognised,” he said. “However, from now on, there are no tuition fees, only fees to cover the cost of boarding. This greatly eases the situation for parents rather than the reverse. ”
The letter sent from from the 13 councillors to the Taoiseach is available in full below:
Dear Taoiseach,We are writing to you in the context of the various submissions and briefings that you are no doubt receiving in the run up to this year’s budget.
As with previous years, we have received considerable correspondence from teachers, parents and various interested parties tied to fee paying schools but particularly those of a Protestant ethos.
The volume and detail of this correspondence drew us to further investigate the issue over the past number of months, speaking in more depth with and meeting with those who had contacted us as well as with those whom we know to have been affected by the continued changes to the pupil teacher ratio in these schools.
The feedback has been of extreme concern to us as loyal members and representatives of Fine Gael, a party many people trusted would protect the education rights of those from religious minorities. It is clear to us from that the recent increases in the pupil teacher ratio for fee charging schools is putting Protestant schools beyond the means of ordinary Protestants. In other words this pupil teacher ratio shift is discriminating against Protestant minorities. Unfortunately there is a perception that Fine Gael is saying that this move, which seems to express Labour Party principles, is acceptable. But we feel strongly that this is not the Fine Gael way.
The continued intransigence of Minister Quinn towards an issue he championed when in opposition is particularly galling and the lack of joined up economic thinking is maddening. The decision by one major school to switch to the free scheme will simply be a further drain on the exchequer while other, smaller, schools will not have the choice to switch to the free scheme; rather they will have to put up fees or consider their long term viability with the option of closure very much on the agenda. Either of these options will mean Protestants being forced to send their children to schools with an ethos that is counter to their beliefs as a consequence of the dearth of non denominational schools across the country.
We would greatly appreciate if you could put the case to Minister Quinn that he should not push ahead with a further change to the pupil teacher ratio for all fee-charging schools but with particular reference to those of a minority faith ethos. If the pupil teacher ratio goes up to 25:1 in the next budget, many of these schools will be placed in an untenable position. It is quite possible that these schools will never return to the position of being schools that were accessible to a wide section of the population. This cannot be the intention of the Fine Gael Party, our Party.
Catholic and Protestant fee-charging schools should not be treated differently on moral grounds alone but in addition, the economics simply do not make sense and Fine Gael should stand for encouraging private investment in education in order to ease the financial burden on the state. We are sure that these sentiments our shared by the vast majority of members and representatives of Fine Gael, however, as a group of current and former serving Councillors that come from a Protestant background we felt we must speak out on an issue that we are dealing with on a daily basis.
We would greatly appreciate the opportunity to meet with you to discuss this matter further in advance of the budget.
Yours sincerely,
Winston Bennett Cavan County Council
Emma Coburn South Dublin County Council
Andrew Coleman Bandon Town CouncilWilliam Dockrell Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council (retired)Wayne Fennell Carlow County CouncilDavid Goodwin Laois County CouncilRainsford Hendy Kildare County Council (retired)
Fred Hunter Carlow County Council
David Maxwell Monaghan County CouncilDerek Mitchell Wicklow County CouncilNeale Richmond Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council
Patricia Stewart Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County CouncilSarah Wray Bray Town Council
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