Protestants vow to fight education cuts
PROTESTANTS in the Republic of Ireland have vowed to "take the fight" to the Irish government over cuts to school budgets.
Hundreds of parents, teachers and church leaders from across the country gathered in Tallaght, Dublin, on Saturday, for what was described as an "unprecedented gathering" to oppose the education cutbacks, which it is claimed could threaten the future of Protestant education in the state.
The meeting was organised to kick-start a vigorous public campaign to influence the Government to restore parity for fee-paying Protestant schools, of which there are 21, with the Catholic free education system.
"Anger is palpable across our community because the right to educate our children to a Protestant ethos is being eroded," said Eleanor Petrie, representing Protestant parents.
Protestant schools have also faced an increase in the pupil teacher ratio. The ratio now stands at 20:1 in fee-paying schools, compared with 19:1 in other secondary schools.
Ms Petrie warned that some schools may be forced to close.
"All we are asking for is the restoration of parity in pupil teacher ratio with the Catholic free education schools to whom we have been aligned for generations," she said.
"If (Education] Minister O'Keeffe fails to restore parity, many poorer Protestant families will no longer be able to send their children to schools of their faith. Schools serving rural communities may well be forced to close."
The Archbishop of Dublin, John Neill, who spoke at Saturday's event, added: "The reclassification of Protestant schools was, in my view, not driven by financial considerations but by a very determined effort within the Department of Education to strike at a sector which they have totally failed to understand."
A resolution passed at the conclusion of Saturday's conference called on the Education Minister, Batt O'Keeffe, to reinstate the right of Protestant parents to choose for their children a school which accords with their own ethos; to recognise the clear and fundamental difference between Protestant schools and the Catholic fee-paying schools; to restore equality of treatment for Protestant schools with Catholic schools in the free education scheme and to give Protestant children access to free education as provided in the agreement entered into in the 1960s.
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Monday 28 May 2012
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