Roman Catholic Schools

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30822, 6 August 1965, Page 10

Roman Catholic Schools

Sir, —Bishop Ashby has seen fit to reduce the primer classes in Roman Catholic schools and it can be assumed that this might be the first step towards the eventual abolition of Roman Catholic primary schools. Every Roman Catholic who is supporting his church and schools must take stock of this situation now and. ask himself if he should continue to support this system of education. There seems to have been mismanagement somewhere, and with the increasing population the situation can only worsen. Roman Catholics have a right to know whether the schools they are now heavily subscribing to will be adequate to cope with even the standards in five years’ time. It seems to me Roman Catholics are buying a pig in a poke.— CATHOLIC LAYMAN. August 2, 1965. [Bishop Ashby said: “It was realised that parishioners might have difficulty in absorbing all the details of the pastoral letter read at all masses last Sunday, so they were advised that the letter would, in the near future, be made available in printed form. The reason for this temporary retrenchment and future policy are set out therein.”]

Sir. Bishop Ashby’s decision to allow no more primer pupils at his city schools will cause much misgiving among

the many parents who arrange to live close to a Roman Catholic school so that their very young children will have but little distance to travel. Would it not be much fairer to decree that the younger children remain in their present schools, and to transfer an older group of pupils who might reasonably be expected to travel greater distances than five and six-year-olds? It would also be useful to know whether the new decision is to be permanent or temporary, and, if the latter, for how many years it is likely to operate.—Yours, etC ’’ PARENT. August 2, 1965. [Bishop Ashby replies: “The decision not to enrol primer pupils rather than transfer an older group of pupils was based mainly on the fact that the religious and social development at primer level would not be affected as much as at form I and II level. Points for and against this are discussed in the pastoral. Evidence from schools where this situation already exists indicates that the standard I child can make up lost ground in religious education with comparative rapidity. As stressed in the pastoral letter, the retrenchment is temporary and will be kept under review constantly with a view to restoration as soon as possible.”]