Denominational Secondary Schools in Ireland: Challenges & Opportunities

Author(s):

Merike Darmody(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

11. Educational Improvement and Quality Assurance

Format:

Paper

Session Information

11 SES 08 A, Quality Assurance in Secondary Education

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-04

09:00-10:30

Room:

B231 Sala de Aulas

Chair:

Salvador Peiró-i-Gregòri

Contribution

This paper presents a comprehensive picture of educational governance and financing among secondary schools in Ireland. There are three second-level sectors in Ireland, which have their origins in historical developments and policy changes: voluntary secondary schools, vocational schools (including community colleges), and community/comprehensive schools. Broadly interpreted, governance refers to the ownership, organisation and management of schools. The mode of governance varies across different types of schools, with voluntary secondary schools increasingly being governed by lay School Trusts; community/ comprehensive schools under the joint trusteeship of religious orders and the state while vocational schools (including community colleges) are under the trusteeship of the state. The way in which the different school types are financed and the extent to which the state supports the trusteeship function across the three second-level sectors also varies, as shown in this paper. While all sectors have undergone significant changes since the conception of the education system, these changes have been particularly pronounced in denominational voluntary secondary schools, the prime focus of this study. Denominational schools have been an important part of the educational landscape in Ireland and currently make up just over half of all second-level schools catering for almost 60 per cent of all second-level student intake. Recent years have seen a decline in the number of religious personnel, resulting in less direct involvement of religious orders in school governance and the emergence of new structures in the form of lay Education Trust Companies responsible for the education enterprise and properties.

In tandem with this development, members of religious orders who previously provided Trustee services on a voluntary (unpaid) basis have been replaced by paid personnel funded by Congregations or independent Trust Companies. In the context of constrained educational expenditure in general, these developments have raised concerns about the sustainability of the voluntary secondary sector (McGrath,2006; Reynolds, 2005), much to the concern of Catholic and Protestant communities in the country.

Method

In order to provide a multifaceted view of the governance and funding of secondary schools in Ireland, the study drew on information from a range of sources and involved three distinct phases. Phase 1 In order to situate the research, a comprehensive review was conducted of existing research and other available documentation on the governance and funding mechanisms of second-level schools in Ireland and elsewhere. This phase enabled the researchers to determine the main themes emerging from the existing research and use them to guide the primary research conducted in the Irish context. Drawing on the information gathered from the literature review, this phase reported on existing practices regarding funding and school governance in other countries. In addition, in order to provide examples of funding models of state-funded schools, a detailed study of four different casestudy jurisdictions was undertaken. The jurisdictions examined were the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia and Ontario, Canada. The four jurisdictions were chosen to demonstrate variation in approaches taken to the funding of denominational schools. Phase 2 This phase involved primary qualitative data collection. The key informants were initially drawn from the Study Advisory Group with members identifying other stakeholders relevant to the study. Interviewees were selected who had specialist knowledge and expertise in the field of school governance and funding of secondary schools. Phase 3 This phase of the study involved a postal survey of all second-level school principals (excluding further education colleges) and chairpersons of boards of management in schools (see Appendix 3). The issues explored included general characteristics of the schools, the characteristic spirit/school ethos, school governance, current and capital funding, fees, parental voluntary contributions, fundraising, and other relevant issues. This phase allowed for a more comprehensive analysis of governance and current funding structures in all second-level schools. There was a satisfactory response rate to the survey: 63 per cent of school principals (n=464) and 43 per cent (n=300) of the chairpersons.Data were reweighted so that responses were representative of all second-level schools.

Expected Outcomes

Our findings indicate a disparity in the funds available to, and costs to be covered by, voluntary secondary, vocational and community/comprehensive schools. The survey findings show that (non-fee-paying) voluntary secondary schools receive just over two-thirds of their funding from government sources while the vast majority of schools in other sectors receive a much higher proportion of funding from the state (90 per cent in vocational schools and 93 per cent in community/comprehensive schools). As a result, voluntary secondary schools are more reliant on other sources of income such as fund-raising or parental voluntary contributions, sources which are likely to be particularly vulnerable in a recessionary context. International experience points to different models for maintaining and funding denominational schools in changing times. Each of the models makes different trade-offs between autonomy and funding resulting from a process of challenge and contention. What the models have in common is that there is generally one central (national or provincial) organisation through which state funding to denominational schools is channelled. This feature contrasts with Ireland where there are a number of different religious orders and trust bodies currently operating voluntary secondary schools, raising challenges for developing a comprehensive approach in school governance and management while maintaining the specific denominational ethos of schools.

References

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Author Information

Merike Darmody (presenting / submitting)

Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)

Social Research

Dublin

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