Cathal BarryCORI ‘confident’ that the ethos of schools associated with religious congregations will continue
The falling number of priests, nuns and brothers involved in education has come into sharp focus this week after a survey revealed that just 80 religious are teaching full-time in primary and secondary schools here.
The survey, conducted by the Conference of Religious Ireland (CORI), found that there are currently about 50 religious teaching in primary schools in Ireland, down from 329 in 2004.
The figure is stark when compared to the 1,445 religious who were working as teachers in primary schools in 1986, and the 2,220 who were teaching full-time in 1960.
At secondary level, despite the fact that there are 375 secondary schools associated with religious congregations, just 30 religious are employed in full-time teaching positions. Only nine have a religious as principal.
Despite the findings, however, a leading member of Ireland’s conference of religious said she was “confident” that the ethos of schools associated with religious congregations would continue.
“It’s not a major concern,” Sr Eithne Wolfe, co-director of education at CORI said.
“The diminishing presence of religious in formal education in Ireland, reflective of an aging profile, has seen many move into new ways of facilitating education that they may not have been involved in before.
“The process has evolved almost organically,” she told The Irish Catholic.
“The survey reveals a significant trend. The figures are sensational on one level and show the numbers of religious teaching in schools have decreased dramatically.”
However, Sr Wolfe pointed out that two religious congregations remained involved in teacher training at Marino Institute of Education, Dublin and Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. This meant they had a “capacity for influence”, she said.
She added that “many religious are now employed by schools in an ancillary role, much of which is hidden. “Many more are doing voluntary work and serve on boards of management,” she said.
