Government pressed as survey shows teachers want schools to be more secular

Opposition politicians have called on the Government to act on a survey that found teachers believe schools should be more secular.

The survey, issued by Civica to members of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), found that just 4% of teachers think preparing students for sacraments should be the responsibility of primary schools.

The research – carried out on behalf of the largest teachers’ union on the island, representing 45,000 primary school teachers in the Republic – indicated that 47% believe the family should take responsibility, while 30% said it should be the parish.

The 34-question survey collected data online from 1,049 respondents from January 8 to 17.

The vast majority said they taught in Catholic schools (88%), with 5% in Educate Together and 4% in Church of Ireland schools.

A large majority said children in all schools should be taught about other religions (83%), with just 9% saying they should not.

And 63% said primary school education should have secular patrons, while 37% said they should be religious.

A slight majority (57%) said faith formation should not take place in schools, while 43% said it should.

Asked whether religion should be taught in schools by the class teacher, 46% said no and 39% said yes.

On Wednesday, INTO members accepted recommendations by a union taskforce to accelerate the divestment of schools, to call for the collection of national data on parental and community preferences; and challenge the requirement for a religious certificate as a condition of employment in denominational schools.

“The findings from our survey and the comprehensive work of our taskforce reflect a concern among teachers about the mismatch between modern Irish society and the structures governing our primary schools,” INTO general secretary John Boyle said.

“INTO members want a school system that is inclusive, equitable and reflective of the diversity of our pupils.”

The Social Democrats and People Before Profit called for the findings of the survey to be acted on by the Government.

Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins said the survey confirms “widespread support among primary school teachers for a reduced role of religion in our classrooms”.

“The results reflect a growing consensus in Irish society that our education system must evolve to reflect the diversity of modern Ireland,” the party’s education spokeswoman said.

“It is therefore not surprising that the INTO survey found that most primary teachers want secular patrons for schools and believe faith formation should no longer take place in the classroom.”

Ms Cummins said the last programme for government committed to delivering 400 multi-denominational primary schools by 2030, but this was “highly unlikely” to be achieved.

She also expressed concern that a proposal for a citizens’ assembly on education appears to have been “watered down” to a national convention on education.

Then-taoiseach Simon Harris said in July that the Government had “not yet” considered the question of establishing a citizens’ assembly on education.

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said Ireland’s education system remains “mired in the Dark Ages”.

“Clearly Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are afraid the answers they would get from 100 ordinary people would force them to challenge the Catholic Church, something they remain determined to avoid,” he said.

Mr Murphy said he would introduce a bill in the next Dail term that would repeal laws that allow for teachers to be discriminated against on the basis of their religious or secular beliefs.

“The Catholic Church runs nine out of 10 primary schools in this state. This means that non-Catholic primary school teachers are discriminated against in job applications, forced to obtain qualifications in teaching a religion they don’t believe in, and then are forced to teach that religion.

“They are also exposed to an ever-present risk of discrimination, and even of losing their jobs, because of their beliefs.

“It is ludicrous that in this day and age, teachers can still be discriminated against because of their religious beliefs.”

The survey was published to coincide with the INTO annual conference being held this week in Galway.