News
Letters to the Editor, 18 April 2008
Time to consult the parents, minister
We are a group of parents in Dublin 15 who wish to set up a local national school, a place of education for all children in the community; where every child is valued and welcomed and where there will not be segregation of children during the school day to facilitate the faith teaching of various religious institutions.
We have 260 pupils pre-enrolled in our proposed Carpenterstown Educate Together National School. We represent these children, their brothers and sisters, their parents, their grandparents, aunts and uncles. We are of this community and have begun our drive for a new school at grassroots level.
In stark contrast, our Education Minister seeks to impose on us from above her model of primary education.
Ms Hanafin frequently speaks of consulting the main educational partners in developing a new school model. In her haste to force through her pilot VEC model for schoolchildren in Dublin 15, she forgot to consult with arguably the most important partner -- the parents of the children.
This community has suffered in the past two years as a result of the Minister's tacit support for denominational enrolment policies.
Is she now asking us to accept her experimental model of primary education for our children rather than the choice of a large proportion of our community?
This is a democracy, minister.
M LYNCH