Seán Haughey
Ceist:559 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Education and Science his policy on the provision of co-educational primary schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12509/00]
Written Answers. - Co-Educational Schools.
As stated in my reply to Question No. 256 on 19 April 2000, as a matter of general policy new primary schools are co-educational. This reflects the fact that the promotion of co-education is current Government policy and has been Government policy since the early 1980s.
Given developments whereby parents are exercising choices for their children's education in terms of gaelscoileanna, denominational and multi-denominational schools, there are obvious economies of scale in providing co-educational rather than separate single-sex schools. However, this is not the overriding factor but rather that co-educating children of both sexes together is in keeping with the concept of equality between the sexes and provides a better basis for developing co-operative but equal roles for men and women in adult life.