Secondary Schools and the Class system

I have noticed over the last few years that many parents now aspire to send their children to fee-paying secondary schools and have tended to dismiss this as a form of residual social snobbery.  But it's obvious that this explanation is not at all adequate.  My own eldest child will go to Colaiste Raithin in Bray next September and I'm happy that an excellent local non fee-paying school is the best option for my child.  Not that I could ever afford to pay fees even if I was so inclined.  In neighbouring Dun Laoghaire, part of the constituency of the Minister for Education, Mary Hannafin, the situation regarding such schools isn't quite as rosy, including her own old school, Sion Hill.

The minister is reported as being criticised for constituency favouritism for fast-tracking grant aid to a local non fee-paying secondary school, Clonkeen College.  The Minister robustly defends her position:

Before I ever got this job I could see in my own school that the issue was directly related to the removal of fees for third level...once families didn't have to pay for third level they knew that they had the money to put into second level.

The Minister insists she is going to fast-track the grant aid for a priority one extension to make sure that whatever reason parents may opt for fee-paying schools it isn't for lack of facilities.  Ms Hannafin is to be commended for this stance.  But is it a matter of "better facilities"?  Frankly I doubt it.  My own admittedly purely anecdotal evidence suggests that it is ordinary, hard working parents who did not come from the established middle classes that are driving this demand for fee paying secondary education.  While reasonable levels of prosperity exist to pay the fees, I suspect that there is a lurking fear that the conditions that underpin this relative prosperity could disappear.  Therefore anything that helps the next generation to achieve a less precarious position than their parents will be encouraged, whether that means establishing early contacts or networks or merely the avoidance of picking up a local accent. 

Comments

[Tracey Miskella]

I applaud our Education Minister's stance regarding fast-tracking grant aid for the secondary school in question. At the very least it is a display of politial will. Ireland's growing ecomomic system has indeed lead to patterns of change particullary in our choice of educational establishments for our children. We have a workforce with the means available to 'invest' in private education if so chosen. For working class families and their children, attending private education has been seen as the way forward. 'Positive Discrimination' alongside a economic 'Educational Market' appears to be the key issues behind our changing opinions.Some traditional commentators may view this as a violation of social order and norms within a class system. However without addressing cultural status, private education may, in some part only prove to isolate our children in their differences, regardless of vocal accent.