Mary White (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)

I very much welcome this Bill. It is an important one for bringing about change in Ireland, particularly with the diversity of people here and the way our schools are developing. Having recently launched the Department of Education and Skills intercultural education strategy, I have noted the extraordinary change in Irish schools with our new migrants. The development of a community national school project is a good idea and I am in favour of it. I am also very much in favour of the educate together model and I would like that model to also be in place at secondary level. Not only are we delivering education at VEC level, second level and now moving into primary level but I hope that the Educate Together model will move from being in place at primary level to secondary level.

As Deputy Enright mentioned, the VECs have done the State great service around the country. I was chair of a board of management of a VEC in my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny, Tullow Community School, and learning of the diversity and breadth of subjects, qualifications and the whole school ethos delivered in that school was a tremendous experience. Dealing with staffing and policy issues in that school gave me a great understanding of what it is like to be in the heart of managing a school.

To replicate the VEC model at primary level in face of a changing Ireland is an interesting development. The VEC concept is a good model. I know it will change due to a recent announcement, but as a wise person said to me in Kilkenny recently, "everything changes except a stagnant pool". We must not look on things as stagnant pools, rather we must reflect on where we are at in times of economic recession, growth, well-being in our country and examine our structures. Developing the community school concept is an interesting change. It is a model that will ensure that the schooling needs for the coming year will embrace the huge diversity and interculturalism we have, which is a great boon and there is a great sense of new energy coming into Ireland and into our schools. This concept has a diverse approach.

While we have had our troubles with scandals in the church in recent times, there have been very good national schools with boards of management, on which the church was involved but we are moving into a new phase now. This new phase is to be welcomed, particularly as we are becoming a more integrated society. Askea boys' school and girls' school in Carlow in my constituency have more than 35 different nationalities, which brings to those schools a broad range of cultural diversity and tremendous difference whether it be language, food, faith or curriculum development, which all contribute to that broader new school ethos.

The way we view the teaching of religion is one of the issues on which I want to focus in the short time I have to contribute. The teaching of religion will change in these schools, and I welcome that. These new community schools will welcome and respect all faiths and none and seek to provide for religious education during the allotted times for the main represented faiths within the school. They also cater for parents who do not wish their children to receive a religious education based on any one particular faith. That represents a move towards the new Ireland, taking account of the huge volume of inward migration we have experienced in recent years and the integration of which we have managed very well. One of the good aspects of the intercultural education strategy is that it pinpointed the inclusivity of our education and the support particularly for English as an additional language. Mindful of the myriad languages now spoken in our schools, one experiences a veritable microcosm of the world when one goes into some of our schools and sees the mix, diversity and that wonderful vibrancy of interculturalism, and I welcome that.

That inculturalism will mean we will have to change the way we do our business in our schools. The multi-belief programme is being taught in the new community national schools, particularly Scoil Cormac in Balbriggan and Ard RÍ community national school in Navan and in Naas, and they are pioneers in this development. They are pushing out the boat in terms of developing this new model. I love the title of the course for the development of this pilot belief programme in schools, which I am sure the Ceann Comhairle knows. It is called "Goodness Me, Goodness You" and represents the good in all of us across the board of all different faiths and of none. The person who thought of that working title deserves a pat on the back because it is good, punchy and different. It is designed to cater for children of all beliefs and of none, with content appropriate for both theist and non-theist perspectives in keeping with the commitment to provide belief specific teaching in accordance with the wishes of parents. The programme also provides for belief-specific modules to be delivered for children whose parents take that option. If I had to say what I really like about this Bill, it is the inclusivity and respect for diversity of cultures present within the single school setting rather than in more than one school. This approach is an important distinguishing feature of the community national schools, and I welcome that. We are changing and we have to change with the times, develop, make sure that our schools cater for the needs of their new pupil cohorts and leave nobody behind and be inclusive in that respect.

I welcome the provision to allow the VECs to operate primary schools with the board of management model of other primary schools rather than the governance model, and I believe that will be a good move. The board of management model has worked well. Having spent eight and a half years on the board management of a VEC in Carlow at post-primary level I am aware of the work boards of management do and the difficulties they face, whether it be a staff issue, a pupil issue, a governance issue, a problem with finance or a problem with the delivery of the curriculum. The broad base that is the VEC system in our country has served us well. This new model will be a great addition to our school provision network. The intercultural education strategy covering five-year planning in education, which I launched a few weeks ago in Croke Park - before the All-Ireland final, when Kilkenny got its comeuppance, but never mind we will be back again - caters for the linguistic and cultural needs of our pupils. This Bill is another part of that forward planning.

I pay tribute to VECs throughout the country which have done the State a great deal of service in terms of the provision of education. Turning their hand now to the community national school model will be a challenge, but it will mark this new development in a new way for a new cohort of pupils who are coming into the system and for parents who want a different system and a different methodology to be used in the way their children are taught, including or excluding religion and to have that freedom and respect for the diversity of cultures. To me, that is a sign that in Ireland we are moving on in terms of how we look at changing trends in education. It is good that we are doing this. Unless we cater for the differences, it could possibly cause us trouble in the future. We want to make sure that our education system with that broad depth of interculturalism can be applicable at second level through this new model. I pay tribute to the boards of management of all our national schools. The model they have delivered will change to a new type of patronage model under this legislation. This move is to be welcomed in a changing Ireland.

There has been considerable discussion of the reasons a new patronage model is required at this time. Historically, as we all know, the church authorities acted as patrons or sponsors of primary schools by initiating the process of establishing new schools when they were needed to serve particular geographical areas. Times are changing, however, and we need to adopt the new approach proposed in the Bill. I look forward to seeing how the work of the vocational education committees and the VEC system at second level will cope with and adapt to primary level. From frequent conversations with teachers, the initiative is receiving positive support.

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