Fr Michael Drumm of the Catholic Schools Partnership has said “the media coverage would lead one to misinterpret the information presented in the survey”.
The notion that only 49 per cent of primary schools teachers are willing to teach religion put forward by several media outlets is “completely false,” he said.
According to Fr Drumm, a close analysis of the survey of the 363 primary teachers shows that approximately 90pc of teachers are open to teaching religion as only about 10 pc are unwilling to do so.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Fr Drumm said the survey is a “strong endorsement of denominational schools” and “shows no evidence of a need for non-denominational schools in Ireland”.
Media reports on the survey also alleged primary school teachers are using time set aside for teaching other subjects to instead prepare children for their First Communion and Confirmation.
According to reports, in some cases an extra nine hours of teaching time a week is being used to ready children for these sacraments.
However, Fr Drumm said he was “absolutely certain” this was not the case. The time allocation suggested for religious instruction by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is 2.5 hours per week.
Fr Drumm said he was “absolutely certain no pupil in the State was receiving more than 2.5 hours of religious education in Catholic schools”. “Naturally in the sacramental years the number of hours devoted to religious formation will be increased but balanced out across the other years,” he said.
This comes after a group of Labour TDs and Senators published a Bill to water down Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act.
Section 37 is vital to protecting the ethos and identity of denominational schools, because it allows them to take “reasonable” action against employees who undermine their ethos.
The Labour group believes it has the support of Justice Minister Alan Shatter and therefore their Bill will become law.
Commenting on this development, Dr John Murray of The Iona Institute said: “If the Government weakens Section 37, no Catholic schools should be handed over to new patron bodies. To hand them over would mean Catholic parents losing many of their schools and the ethos of the remaining schools being undermined as well.”
He continued: “In principle, some Catholic schools should be transferred to other patron bodies in the interests of diversity. But if the Government intends watering down the ethos of the remaining schools, then it is not acting in good faith. In response, the Catholic bishops should refuse to transfer any schools until the right to preserve the ethos of all remaining denominational schools - both Catholic and non-Catholic - is guaranteed.”
Also commenting on the Bill, Fr Drumm said “section 37 is a key component of employment law with regard to denominational schools and any changes proposed must balance the rights of all concerned”.