Cork parents divided over religious ethos in class

Cork parents are less likely to want their school to be religious than parents in most counties, figures have shown.

The majority of parents whose children attend single-sex schools in Cork would rather see them in a mixed school, while most parents of children in English-speaking schools in Cork want English to remain the main language.

A much narrower majority of parents of children in religious schools in Cork said they would be in favour of it keeping its religious ethos.

These responses come from the Government’s national primary school survey.

The survey saw more than 200,000 households submitting validated responses across Ireland, alongside strong participation from school staff and boards of management.

In Cork, 55% of parents of children in denominational primary schools expressed a preference for their school’s ethos to remain denominational.

This is compared to 60% nationally.

Cork had the third-lowest percentage in the country, narrowly behind Waterford and Wicklow.

There are 276 single-sex primary schools in Ireland, and 73% of them indicated a preference for their school to transition to a co-educational model.

The figure was slightly lower in Cork, with 70% of the parents of students in Cork’s 31 single-sex schools — which includes 13 all-girls schools and 18 all-boys schools — saying they would prefer a mixed school.

Almost nine in ten parents (87.8%) of children in primary schools in Cork that teach mainly through English expressed a preference for English to remain the primary language of instruction, marginally above the 87% reported nationally.

While the figures show the picture at county level, the Department of Education has said it is the parental preferences at individual school level that will show the actual demand for change or otherwise.

In early May, every primary school will receive its individual school-specific report, along with clear information on the steps a school may need to take where the parental preference shows demand for change.

Based on the preferences of their parents as returned in the survey, schools will be asked to consider if they wish to be included in the first tranche of schools to action any changes needed.

The department has said it will provide supports to those schools wishing to make changes.