THIS week the Department of Education announced a major step in expanding parental choice in education, with the launch of an online, school-specific survey of parents, guardians and primary school communities.
The survey will assess parental demand for different types of primary school provision including patronage, co-education and Irish-medium provision.
In Letterkenny, primary education saw significant change in recent years with boys and girls now attending Scoil Mhuire gan Smál and Scoil Cholmcille national schools.
Pictured are pupils at Scoil Mhuire gan Smál, the first group of boys to complete all eight years at what was formerly an all-girls school.
They are now considering what secondary school they will attend next September.
Their options include the all-boys secondary school of St Eunan’s College (pictured in the background in the photo). Scoil Mhuire gan Smál would have taught boys along with girls in junior and senior infants many years ago before the opening of Scoil Cholmcille NS in the late 1970s.
