Parents angry over delay in approving co-ed status for school

Parents with children attending the Mercy Convent Primary School in Naas have criticised the delay in making the school co-educational.

They have already voted in favour of the move and the consultation process has been ongoing since 2022. 

However, the school authorities say there will be no change until at least the start of the 2025-26 school year - because numerous factors need to be considered.

The school currently takes boys only for junior and senior infants at which point they must then leave for another school, generally St Corbans Boys National School (which has 504 pupils), and co-ed status would mean they could continue with their primary education through to sixth class.

Meetings were held with parents, staff, and the wider community in April of 2022 to commence the process and to “get an understanding of what everyone wanted for their school going forward.”

A final report and recommendations were given to the school patron, the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin Dr Denis Nulty  in November 2022. However no decision has been made to reconfigure the school which has 540 pupils.

Read more Kildare news

Parents say  initial timelines indicated that any boy enrolled in the Mercy Convent in September 2023 would have had the opportunity to complete their primary education in the school. This now looks unlikely, and parents say they find themselves having to look for alternative school arrangements for their children. In some cases, parents have both boys and girls attending the school and could now be  in a situation where they will have to move all their children to an alternative school.

The parents have started an online petition to draw attention to the situation and have gathered almost 600 signatures in a week.   

Parents representative Criag Byrne said there has been an overwhelming majority in favour of making the Sallins Road school co-ed from junior infants through to sixth class.

“A decision on the reconfiguration has been with the school Patron Bishop Denis Nulty for an extended period of time and he continues to delay making a decision which impacts the lives of our children. 

“We now have a number of families who will need to find alternative schools for their children should they not be allowed to keep their child in the school for their junior cycle education.

“We urge the Department of Education to make changes that reflect the needs of modern families. Let's make our school co-educational so that every child has equal opportunities regardless of their gender.”

According to Bryan O’Reilly, the Patron's Secretary for Primary Schools, noted that while 655 of parents supported the co-ed move, nearly half also expressed concern about the transfer to second level schools (MCPS is a “feeder school” for the all girls St Mary’s College).

At the request of the  St Corban’s BNS board of management, it was decided to appoint the same facilitator who conducted the MCPS consultation process to do likewise at the boys school. This showed that half of the parents raised concerns about the “feeder school” status to second level. (St Corban’s is a feeder school of Naas CBS).

“It is evident from both consultation reports that a significant area of concern for the parents in each school is the feeder school status to the Catholic second level schools, which have two different patron bodies,” said Mr O’Reilly..

He also said Bishop Nulty considered both consultation reports in November 2023 and met with the chairpersons and principals of each board of management in early December for a detailed discussion on the impact of a change of status for each school. 

“Considering the concern expressed by parents in both schools regarding feeder school status to the Catholic second level schools, which have two different patron bodies, the patron advised that he will make contact with the second level schools in order to address the concerns of parents,” added Mr O’Reilly.

This engagement is currently underway.

Another factor at play is the timeline for the completion of construction projects at both primary schools. It's understood that the work at MCPS will finish sooner. However Mr O’Reilly says that finish dates are unavailable but “there is potential for completion in 2025/2026” (and) “this has a bearing on some practical aspects of a change in status.”

He added it was decided and subsequently confirmed by both boards of management, that in order to avoid confusion and uncertainty for parents, there would be no application to the Department of Education for a change of status for the schools for the 2024/2025 school year pending clarity on these two main issues. There will be further engagement between the patron and the boards of management of both schools at the end of this school year and each board will post their admission notices this week with enrolments proceeding as heretofore.

He said the patron is working with all parties and “seeking to balance all needs in “as fair and equitable a manner as possible at the earliest viable date”