LAST UPDATE | 4 Nov

THE LARGEST EVER survey conducted looking at the ethos of primary schools in Ireland goes live today.

This survey – which goes live today here - aims to assess the appetite amongst parents for multi-denominational, co-educational and Irish-medium education.

One of its main aims is for the Department of Education is to find out whether changes should be introduced at the primary level affecting whether one religious faith is prioritised over others.

The first step is engaging with the parents and guardians, and the next phase will see the department move onto discussing the preferences with the schools.

The Education and Training Boards has called on parents, school staff and boards of management to participate in the Primary Schools Survey 2030 to have their say on the future of primary education in Ireland.

The ETB runs community national schools and community colleges across the country. These primary and post-primary schools are state-funded, co-educational and multi-denominational.

Education and Training Boards, the patrons of Community National Schools and Community Colleges across the country, which are state-funded, co-educational, multi-denominational primary and post-primary schools, and the largest provider of education through the medium of Irish, are calling on all parents of children within this cohort, as well as school staff and boards of management to participate in the survey and have their say.

The survey will remain live until 16 December.

Curriculum will remain the same

General secretary of Education and Training Boards Ireland Paddy Lavelle said the survey is a chance to ensure schools “reflect the diverse society we now live in”, as he encouraged people to take part.

Lavelle added that he understands if people are “naturally cautious about change”, but went on to say that curriculum, staff and extra-curricular activities will “all remain as they were” if the ethos of a school changes.

“Instead of doing Catholic religion classes only, for example, children learn about different religious and non-religious worldviews, and the religions and beliefs of their classmates,” Lavelle said.

“For families who are Catholic, there is still the option for children to make their First Holy Communion or their Confirmation – the only difference is that preparation for the sacraments happens outside of the regular school day.”

The survey asks a small number of questions, including the following:

• Would you prefer your primary school to be a co-educational school or a single-sex school?
• Would you prefer your primary school to operate under a denominational (religious) patron or to operate under a multi-denominational (non-religious) patron?
• Would you prefer your primary school to provide education primarily through the English language or through the Irish language?

Figures gathered by ETBI show that, currently, only 156 of the 3,089 primary schools nationally are multi-denominational – 5% of all schools.

The vast majority – 95% – fall under the patronage of religious bodies, primarily the Catholic Church.

Data from the 2022 Census showed that 69% of people identified as Catholic. Of the 31% of people who do not identify as Catholic, over 14% identified as non-religious.

Survey will use Eircodes

Minister for Education and Youth Helen McEntee said Ireland’s education system “must reflect our society but more importantly, it must respond to what parents want for their children”,

“By assessing parental demand in every community, we can identify what the need is and work with schools to support them through that process.”

Speaking on Newstalk’s The Hard Shoulder this evening, McEntee said responses to the survey will be anonymous and it will use Eircodes to identify the schools in question. 

“Eircodes are being asked of parents. We’re then able to identify that that’s connected with the school their child is either in or they’ll be going to,” she said.

“That way, when we get the results of the survey, if there’s a very clear demand for a particular school in a particular area, we know that it’s specific to that school and the response is specific to that area.”

The Department will then be able to speak to that community and the school to see if there is a demand there to change the school’s ethos.

“This is just the first step in actually identifying, what are the wishes, what’s the demand there, what’s the desire among parents.”

Asked what will happen if responses indicate a desire to change a school’s ethos, McEntee said the process would be similar to what happens when a new school is opening. 

“There’s a survey done of parents as to what type of patronage they want for that specific school. This is what would happen here,” she said, adding that parents with children at that school will be asked what kind of patronage they want for it.  

“In order to make sure that we can actually implement these changes, we need it to be specific to schools, to communities and to parents based on where their children are already in school or where they want them to go to school.”

She said she would anticipate any potential changes would not begin until September 2027.