Catholic school

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This article is about Catholic schools in general. For specific schools named Catholic High School, see Catholic High School (disambiguation).

Catholic schools are education ministries of the Roman Catholic Church. Presently, the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system.^[1] These schools aim to develop their students through participation in the sacramental life of the Church, study of religion and theology, a full curriculum in secular subjects, and a variety of extracurricular activities. Catholic schools are found in almost every country of the world and have often been the only schools in some parts of the world.

Religion is included in the learning experience, and school uniforms are often a requirement for students. While it is common for Catholic schools to require non-Catholic students to take Catholic religion classes and attend the various religious exercises of the school (except in Muslim nations where this is prohibited by law), a requirement that the student must be Catholic to attend a Catholic school is rare.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Australia 2 Canada 3 New Zealand 4 United Kingdom 4.1 England and Wales 4.2 Scotland 4.3 Northern Ireland 5 United States 6 Other Countries 7 Footnotes 8 See also 9 External links

Australia

In Australia, the Catholic Education department is the biggest employer outside of the Commonwealth government. Its schools outnumber the amount of private schools in the country. The Catholic School system gets substantial funding from the federal government as Catholic, and other private/religious schools are considered as being a vital education system outside the public sector.^{[citation needed]}

Canada

The first school in Canada was established in 1620 by the the Catholic Recollet Order in Québec.^[2] The first school in Alberta was also a Catholic one, at Lac Ste.-Anne in 1842. ^[3] As a general rule, all schools in Canada were operated under the auspices of one Christian body or another until the 19th century.

New Zealand

In New Zealand, Catholic schools are termed 'integrated schools' for the purposes of funding. Effectively, this means that teachers' salaries and learning materials are publicly funded, but school property is not. New Zealand's Catholic schools are built on land owned by the diocese; if the government were to fund Catholic school property it would be transferring wealth to the bishop, breaking the separation of church and state. At the Primary school level, 60% of the teaching staff must be practicing Catholics, at the Secondary level this drops to 40%. The teaching positions which must be held by Catholic teachers are referred to as "tagged".

United Kingdom

England and Wales

In England and Wales, Catholic schools are either independent or Voluntary aided, with funding shared between the state and the Catholic Education Service. The service provides education for around 840,000 pupils each year through its 2,300 schools. In addition, some 130 independent schools have a Catholic character.^[4][5]

In England in 2009, Catholic schools comprised two-thirds of all religious secondary schools.^[6]

Scotland

Catholic schools in Scotland were not absorbed into the state system until 1918, much later than in the rest of Britain. Apart from those institutions which are independent of the state system, Catholic schools all fully funded by the Scottish Government. There are legal provisions (missing in England & Wales) to ensure the Catholicity of such schools within the system e.g. applicants for positions in the areas of Religion, Guidance or Senior Management must be approved by the local Diocese, and are invariably Catholic.

Northern Ireland

The Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) is the advocate for the Catholic Maintained Schools sector in Northern Ireland. CCMS represents Trustees, schools and Governors on issues such as raising and maintaining standards, the school estate and teacher employment. As the largest employer of teachers in Northern Ireland (8500 teachers), CCMS plays a central role in supporting teachers whether through its welfare service or, for example, in working parties such as the Independent Inquiry into Teacher Pay and Conditions of Service.

United States

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In the United States, Catholic schools are accredited by independent and/or state agencies, and teachers are generally certified. Catholic elementary and secondary schools receive virtually no government funding.^{[citation needed]} Schools are supported through tuition payments, and fund raising. There are scholarships funded by the private sector and vouchers granted to poor children by the government, especially when public schools in the inner city exhibit low performance levels. Federally-funded programs such as Title I also provide Counseling, Reading, Math, and EFL/ESL help to low-performing students under the poverty line in private schools of all denominations and the Cook Center, subsidized by departments of education like the New York City Department of Education, render resource room services to children with an IEP, or a document that shows that the child has special needs.

Other Countries

Catholic schools exist in almost every country in the world sometimes comprising a significant part of a country's educational system as in most Latin American countries, Africa and India.

Footnotes

See also

• Christian school
• Boarding school
• Liberal arts college
• Parochial school
• Private school
• Public school
• Public school (England)
• Marist School - Marikina

External links

• National Catholic Educational Association – more information on Catholic schools in the United States
• Catholic Colleges and Universities in the United States
• Catholic Schools List of Catholic schools in Australia

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