Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 December 2015
537. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will remove the current rule 68 for primary schools and replace it with another rule maintaining an integrated curriculum or requiring separate religious instruction and the teaching of the curriculum in a manner not informed by any particular religious denomination; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45215/15]
View answerThe Report of the Advisory Group to the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector was published in April 2012. The Report recommended a review and updating of the Rules for National Schools and in particular, Rule 68. I believe that the language and tone of Rule 68 is archaic and does not reflect the reality of today's primary education sector. I am currently engaged in a series of meetings with the different education bodies involved in implementing the recommendations of the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism. I have already met with the Education and Training Boards, and with representatives of the Catholic Church am meeting with Educate Together and the Church of Ireland this week. The key objective of these meetings is to make further advance progress on the recommendations of the Forum and along. Following those meetings in the New Year I will outline a number of actions to advance the recommendations which arose from the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism, and these actions will include the immediate repeal of rule 68. Separately, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is developing a curriculum in Education about Religions and Beliefs (ERB) and Ethics. An important part of a child's education involves learning about and understanding the lives, values and traditions of friends, classmates and members of the wider community. Much of this learning already takes place in Irish classrooms where a child's sense of their own identity and belonging is nurtured and valued. It is intended that the new ERB curriculum will ensure that every child has the opportunity for such learning, and that the good practices which already take place in schools are recognised. The consultation on the proposals for this new curriculum is now open and will continue into spring 2016. The NCCA will be engaging with a range of audiences, including: teachers, schools, parents, children, educational partners, patrons, children's advocacy groups and other members of the general public. As part of the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, the NCCA has already been tasked with looking at the suggested time framework for subjects contained within the primary school curriculum and advice on this is due in 2016. The NCCA also plans to begin a general consultation on the primary curriculum in 2016. Curricular change does not require reliance on the Rules.
