Education and Training Boards Ireland has launched its new Ethos Framework with Cavan and Monaghan ETB schools at the heart of the plan. Focused on multi-denominational, equality-based school, the Framework is the culmination of 10 years of research, reflection, consultation, and visionary policymaking.
It sets out that all ETB schools in Cavan and Monaghan are State, co-educational, multi-denominational schools, underpinned by the core values of excellence in education, care, equality, community and respect.
Dr Séamus Conboy, Director of Schools at ETBI, said a significant milestone had been reached with the recognition of the new status of local ETB schools. "As ETB schools in Cavan and Monaghan are State schools, they have particular responsibilities in respect of the common good in an increasingly diverse society.
"Research carried out across ETB schools in 2016 found that although values such as equality, respect and care are evident throughout the schools, there was little coherence within or between schools with regard to their understanding of their overall ethos, or what it meant to be an ETB school.
"ETB school leaders called on their patron ETBs to provide clarity on the overall ethos of the state school sector. This Framework provides this clarity and answers the calls from school leaders for clarity in relation to the ETB school ethos.
"With 279 ETB schools around the country at both primary and post-primary level, we needed to be clear on our ethos. Cavan and Monaghan ETB has an Ethos Coordinator who will support schools in their ETB with the implementation of the Framework. Each school has an Ethos Leadership Team, who is responsible for the implementation of the Framework at a school level".
"There are approximately 55 ETB post-primary schools with legal agreements with other religious and secular patron bodies which provide for their participation in the organisation and management of these specific schools.
"Discussions are still ongoing at both national and local levels with the other bodies involved in these schools in terms of the use of the Patrons' Framework in these contexts," he added.
