Every year, I try to predict what the big stories will be in primary education in Ireland. 2016, for me, will be best remembered by being forgotten. It was a very disappointing year on all fronts with very little happening – almost as if someone had hit the pause button on the sector. Nothing seemed to happen … Read more
The Action Plan for Education was published today by Minister Richard Bruton. The government aims for Ireland to have the best education and training system in Europe by 2026. Given that the government has spent the last 10 years tearing the education system apart through budgetary cuts, I’m not entirely sure how they are going … Read more
The INTO congress was on this week. You might have missed it because you probably didn’t hear much about it in the media. This was probably because it was a massive success on all fronts. One could almost hear Katherine Donnelly’s disappointment that she couldn’t use words like “whinging.” Sometimes, we have to look at … Read more
Around 96% of Irish primary schools are under the patronage of a religious body, with around 92-93% of schools under the the Catholic Church. This means that anyone who does not identify themselves as Catholic has very little chance of getting into a school that fully respects their religious identity. There is little appetite for … Read more
As most people know, there are a number of parents in Ireland who have been in the media lately claiming that they cannot enrol their children in their local school as they do not have a Baptismal Certificate. However, in the vast majority of schools, this is not the case. The Catholic church claim that most … Read more
I developed an infographic based on the data received from my survey on how inclusive are Irish Catholic Primary Schools. I’ll be publishing my thoughts in the coming days.
Recently, The Irish Independent carried an article with the headline, Catholic Schools are as inclusive as any other type by Father Tom Deenihan, during Catholic Schools’ Week. However, not everyone would agree with this sentiment. What does being inclusive mean in the 21st century? We surveyed Irish primary teachers to ascertain exactly what happens in their schools. … Read more
The Irish Independent published, what they called, a definitive league table of the best schools in Ireland, based on 7 years of data. It was based on the percentage of students that went on to third level from secondary school. Schools where close to 100% of their students went on to third level over the 7 years, were … Read more
Between 96% and 98% of Irish primary schools are denominational in patronage, which means that one or two particular religions are taught as truth as part of the school day. There is a lot of focus in the media about Catholic schools and non-baptised children. I believe this is very unhelpful as it pitches Catholic schools … Read more
As we come to the last day of year, it is traditional at Anseo.net to make predictions for what we think will be the big stories for the following year. 2015 was the year where inequalities in the country were highlighted. The historic vote for marriage equality in Ireland has raised awareness that there are still many inequalities … Read more