Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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97. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to accelerate the divestment of patronage of schools; if schools will be divested to the community national school model; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6464/17]

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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98. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the mechanisms his Department will utilise in order to ascertain the wishes of local communities for the purposes of divestment of patronage; if the process will be open to all of the various patrons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6465/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 97 and 98 together.

The Deputy will be aware that I announced last week new plans aimed at providing more multi-denominational and non-denominational schools across the country, in line with the choices of families and school communities and the Programme for Government commitment in this area.

This will involve the Education and Training Boards in the initial phase, as the State’s local education authorities, identifying areas where there is likely to be demand for greater diversity and they will work with pre-school services to establish evidence of this demand among the cohort of pre-school parents. There will then be discussions between individual ETBs and the existing patrons/landowners concerning the possible transfer of schools to accommodate this demonstrated demand for diversity.

Each ETB will then prepare a report for the Department outlining the levels of demand within their functional areas and the responses of the existing patrons as to how this might be accommodated through the reconfiguration of existing school provision.

In the subsequent implementation phase, where the level of demand for multidenominational schools is sufficient to justify transfer of a school from denominational to multi-denominational patronage, a process will commence to give effect to that. There will be a role for the existing patron/landowner in consulting with local community and school interests and taking into account proposals from different prospective multi-denominational patrons.  It is envisaged that transfers will largely be by way of voluntary transfer of live schools by existing patrons.

This new process for supporting transfers of schools to multi-denominational patrons in response to the wishes of local families is based around principles of transparency and co-operation. Therefore, there will be a very substantial level of consultation of local communities in the process, both with the ETBs’ in the initial phase to establish evidence of demand by consulting pre-school parents and subsequently through the requirement for the existing patron to consult with local community and school interests in proposing to transfer patronage of an existing school to an alternative patron body.  In that process, the existing patron will also take into account proposals from all prospective multidenominational patrons that wish to be considered.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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99. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department has undertaken an analysis of the community national school model in terms of inclusion, particularly in terms of those children of minority faith and none at times of religious instruction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6466/17]

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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100. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the safeguards in place in the community national school model to ensure that children of minority faiths and none are treated in an inclusive manner during religious instruction; if there is an opt out procedure in place for children whose parents do not wish them to receive religious instruction; if any guidelines or best practice model have been developed and documented as a result of the community national school pilot project; the evidence upon which his Department has considered the further extension of the model; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6467/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 99 and 100 together.

Community National Schools were introduced in 2008 in response to the increasing demand for parental choice in the patronage of primary schools. The schools are multi-denominational, and they allow for belief nurturing during the school day. The Community National School (CNS) model was initially piloted in two schools. Since then it has expanded with a total of eleven new Community National Schools, located in four ETB areas across the country (Dublin and Dun Laoghaire, Cork, Kildare and Wicklow, and Louth and Meath), being established in line with the patronage selection process operated by my Department. Patronage of all the schools formally transferred from the Minister to the relevant ETB in 2016.

Community National Schools are multidenominational, and aim to accommodate parents who wish to have their children learn about different faiths and beliefs while at the same time nurturing children in their own beliefs. The schools do not prioritise any particular religion or belief.

The ‘Goodness Me, Goodness You’ (GMGY) curriculum is the patron’s programme that underpins the characteristic spirit of CNS schools, and is being developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA). GMGY is a common programme suitable for pupils of all faiths and beliefs and none. Children learn together about the same themes and the schools communicate with parents so that families can talk at home about the different themes from their own faith and belief perspective. The GMGY programme has evolved since the establishment of the schools, taking account of feedback from teachers, parents, pupils and faith and belief leaders.

Parents can opt for their child to receive belief-specific teaching for a time during the school year and may request additional supports around specific rites of passage. This approach is open to parents and pupils of all religions and beliefs and none. The approach that a school takes to belief-specific teaching and rites of passage may be different in each Community National School, depending on the needs of the school community and the practices of local belief communities.

Article 44 of the Constitution and Section 30 of the Education Act 1998, which apply to all recognised schools, provide that parents have a right to have their children opt out of religion classes if they so wish. The manner in which any school ensures that the right to opt out of religion classes is upheld is a matter for the school concerned. Each individual school determines the particular arrangements which are most appropriate in its individual circumstances having regard to local issues such as, for example, available space and supervision requirements.

The Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016, which completed second stage in the Dáil in November, includes a specific requirement that school enrolment policies must include details of the school’s arrangements for any students who do not wish to attend religious instruction. This is an important measure which will help ensure transparency from the outset as to how a school will uphold the rights of parents in this regard.

The operation of Community National Schools, like all other recognised schools, is subject to ongoing inspection and evaluation. My Department's school inspectorate inspects the schools on an ongoing basis and this has included a Whole School Evaluation in certain cases. The findings of such Whole School Evaluations are published on my Department's website. In addition, the schools all engage in school self-evaluation, the findings of which are published on school websites.