The recent release of the national Department of Education Primary School Survey results, like everything these days, has prompted polarising commentary. The survey finally gave families across Ireland the chance to have their say on the type of schools they want in their communities. However, publication of these results has sparked calls to ban religion from all schools on the one hand, and calls to protect religious control of schools at all costs on the other. In all the noise, it is easy to lose sight of the significance of the survey and its findings .

There are many families all around Ireland who cannot exercise their constitutional right to choose a school that aligns with their values. Growing numbers of non-Catholic children attend Catholic schools, leaving school leaders with the impossible task of simultaneously upholding a religious ethos and protecting all children’s rights to freedom from discrimination. Research carried out for the Department of Education in 2012 captured how these children can feel left out in religious-run schools. This is not the fault of teachers – it is an inevitable consequence of an education system which is out of balance.

This is not a new problem, but it is one that our State has failed to take seriously up to now. For decades politicians and department officials alike have dismissed parents seeking school choice. Those parents have organised, campaigned, and established schools, and over the past 50 years the State has moved from active opposition through toleration to limited support.

The Primary School Survey is a........

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