LWETB to survey parents on School Patronage

Longford and Westmeath Education and Training Board (LWETB), in its role as the local statutory education authority for Longford and Westmeath, has been chosen by the Department of Education and Skills to conduct a survey seeking the views of preschool parents on the choice of school patronage available to them. 

The chief executive of the LWETB, Dr Christy Duffy said: “After careful consideration, LWETB has identified Athlone as the initial area in which to roll out this survey. 

“The purpose of the survey is to seek the views of preschool parents in this area as to whether the current choice of school patronage available to them in Athlone is satisfactory.

“We hope that the outcome of the survey will provide a good sense of what the community wants for their children in terms of school patronage. 

“In order to ensure this it is important that parents of preschool children in Athlone engage fully with the process. 

“I would like to acknowledge the significant role both Westmeath County Childcare Committee and Roscommon County Childcare Committee are playing in the distribution and collection of the surveys. 

“Once they have verified the results, they will be returned to LWETB for analysis”

This is part of the ‘Schools Reconfiguration for Diversity Process’ which was announced by the Minister in January 2017. 

The minister has set a target of having 400 multidenominational or non-denominational primary schools in Ireland by 2030. 

The minister hopes that many of these schools will come about through this process whereby schools currently under the patronage of a religious group will reconfigure to become a multidenominational or a non-denominational school.

Although this survey is initially being carried out in Athlone, the department will be asking LWETB to identify other areas for consideration in Longford and Westmeath.

If the results of the survey indicate a demand for more choice of school patronage in Athlone, the results will be sent to the patrons of the schools in Athlone. 

The patron will be asked to respond to the results, indicating what, if any, resolutions they can offer. 

A report detailing the results of the process will then be sent to the Department of Education and Skills, which will subsequently publish the report on its website.