Top Catholic schools enhance social divide

SINCE the acquittal of the young men in the Belfast rape trial we have been inundated with facts and opinion on the case. Marches and demonstrations have taken place on both sides of the border. Two of the acquitted men have played rugby for Ireland, indeed, it is partly because of their status, prowess on the rugby field that the case has received such publicity.

In the Republic ‘rugby schools’ are usually fee-paying schools. There are non-fee paying schools that play rugby but the majority of ‘rugby schools’ in the Republic are the preserve of children from middle-class families and most of these schools, in the case of Catholic schools, are owned and managed by religious orders or dioceses.

One of the central tenets of the Christian message is that Christ brings good news, especially to the poor. The church has a special mission to the poor. What is the Catholic Church doing in Ireland with its involvement in fee-paying schools? Proponents of church involvement in such schools argue that it makes sense for the church to have an influence in the leaders of tomorrow’s generation. Has the investment yielded good returns?

The Catholic Church plays and played a significant role in education in Ireland. Schools run and managed by sisters brothers and priests educated the majority of pupils in the Irish State. But in doing so they helped continue and indeed enhance a divide between rich and poor. Especially in Dublin, the poorer schools played Gaelic football while the ‘posher’ schools played rugby. We took it as the norm, but it was and is a form of ghettoising. It is inevitable that it has a strong potential to cause division in society.

‘Rugby schools’ create a network of privileged people. They can also breed a mentality that often smells and looks like arrogance and superiority. Of course great women and men come from these schools but does it make a whit of sense that the Catholic Church be involved in running schools, which are exclusively open to the children of parents who can afford to pay the fees? Should the State be paying teachers in these schools? Should the State offer subsidies and grants to these schools?

It’s easy for these fee-paying schools to create myths. We are told that they offer a ‘christian ethos’. What exactly does that mean? How has that ethos percolated across Irish society? When I hear that expression I whisper ‘humbug’ to myself. I can’t help but think and believe that it’s all part of a great snobbery game that is played out in Irish society. Sending your child to one of these so-called ‘exclusive’ schools gives her/him that first step on the ladder to an ‘old boys club’. Every society always will have elites but surely the churches should have nothing to do with enhancing such divisions.

I have taught in both fee-paying and non-fee paying schools. There is something wrong with a system that divides school-going children on the basis of the wealth of their parents. Teaching in both systems I have also seen much of the myth that surrounds fee-paying schools.

The overwhelming majority of schools in Germany are State schools and from what I see they manage well enough in educating the children who will be the leaders of tomorrow’s generation.