are catholic schools a model of educational excellence or a luxury

Sunday Herald, The, Jul 25, 2004 by George Rosie

IT'S possible that Michael McGrath has been handed one of the hardest jobs in Scotland. It's down to him to explain to the rest of us just why the Roman Catholic Diocese of Motherwell and North Lanarkshire Council have got into such an unholy tangle over the church's demands for separate "facilities" for Roman Catholic youngsters in proposed joint campus primary schools in the area.

Last week the Bishop of Motherwell, Joe Devine, announced he was withdrawing from talks with North Lanarkshire Council to create seven joint campus primaries because, he claimed, the local authority was not doing enough to protect the distinct identity of Catholic education within the schools. Devine has now made the "unprecedented move" of writing to First Minister Jack McConnell to complain that the council's proposals contravene the Education (Scotland) Act of 1980 which governs the provision of Catholic schooling.

Of course, there's more to it than meets the eye. According to McGrath, director of the recently-formed Scottish Catholic Education Service (SCES), what might appear a somewhat dotty attempt to fence off Roman Catholic children from their playmates is one more skirmish in the long campaign to protect the Roman Catholic school system that, he says, has served Scotland well. It's an essentially defensive campaign, and one that has been waged off and on since Catholic schools joined the (publicly-funded) mainstream in 1918.

"It's not a difficulty about children playing together," says McGrath. "It's not a difficulty about children eating together." The difficulty, he maintains, is that too much integration would lead to the disappearance of what he calls the "hallmarks of the Catholic school": the crucifixes, the religious statuary, the stained glass, the pictures of the virgin and so forth.

But does that matter? To serious Catholics like Michael McGrath it does. His 28 years of teaching were all spent in Catholic schools (latterly as head teacher of Our Lady's High School in Cumbernauld) and he's proud of the Catholic system. "And our view of education embraces the whole educational experience of the child." He describes this as a "holistic approach" which engages the child's "spiritual, moral, intellectual development." Which is what he's now seeking to defend against the forces of secularism, consumerism, and simple cost effectiveness.

There's no doubt that what McGrath's defending comprises a sizeable slice of Scottish educational life. Around 125,000 youngsters are being taught in 59 Catholic secondaries and 345 primaries. That's more than 20% of Scotland's total school population. Twenty nine of Scotland's 32 education authorities preside over Catholic schools, most of which are in the Glasgow- Edinburgh-Dundee triangle.

In an effort to stiffen the resolve of its troops the church has produced a document, the Charter For Catholic Schools In Scotland, which sets out the Catholic schools' raison d'etre. It reads: "The mission of the Catholic school is to develop as a community of faith and learning, providing the highest quality of education and offering formation through the promotion of Gospel values, through celebration and worship, and through service to the common good." McGrath's job is to help see that mission through.

Which is easier said than done. Catholic schools have been a source of contention since the Education (Scotland) Act of 1918 which let the state take over their funding. All through the 1920s Protestant clergymen and politicians fumed about "Rome on the rates" and declared Catholic schools were part of the Pope's wicked designs to take over Scotland. More recently they've been viewed as an expensive luxury and a source of the sectarianism. The phrase "educational apartheid" has often been bandied about. McGrath is aware of this prickly history and the apparently never-ending need to defend the Catholic system.

Yet some parts of that system are difficult to defend. It has thrown up a number of injustices which are still to be resolved. One of them is a stained-glass ceiling for non-Catholics. While it's common for Catholics to become head teachers in Scotland's non- denominational schools, it's impossible for non-Catholics to reach the top of Catholic schools. The 1918 act gives Scotland's bishops the power to approve teachers on the basis of their "religious belief and character".

Unsurprisingly, the bishops approve Catholics for the top jobs. As a result, head teachers and even certain "promoted posts" - ie heads of department - are reserved for Catholics. Which, on the face of it, seems hugely unfair, and is widely resented by rank-and-file teachers (not to mention their trade unions). McGrath understands their objections but he defends the status quo.

"You wouldn't find a non-Catholic as head of a Catholic school, that's for sure," he says. "But you will find non-Catholics in promoted posts at different levels." He argues those jobs which shape what he calls "the pastoral and moral formation of the children" (ie head teachers, deputy heads, guidance teachers, religious education teachers) must be reserved for people who've been "trained in Catholic philosophy, theology and anthropology". And that's even more essential in primary schools "because it's one teacher who's delivering the whole programme to the child, so you need a Catholic teacher."