Minister Makes Final Appeal to Cork Parents: Two Weeks Left to Shape Future of Primary Schools
Two weeks left for Cork parents to have their say on primary schools. Survey closes 16 December.
Parents and guardians in Cork have just 14 days remaining to complete Ireland's largest ever primary school survey, with the Minister for Education urging families not to miss their chance to influence the future of local education before the 16 December deadline.
Minister for Education and Youth, Hildegarde Naughton TD, has issued a final call to Cork families with children in primary school or pre-school to participate in the groundbreaking survey before time runs out.
The online survey, which launched on 4 November, asks parents about their preferences for primary school provision, including patronage and ethos (religious or multi-denominational), co-education versus single-sex schools, and language of instruction (English or Irish).
Cork has seen a response rate of 32.8% to date, with over 18,000 of the county's 54,904 eligible households having completed the school-specific survey. This places Cork slightly below the national leader, Galway, which has achieved a 40.5% response rate.
Minister Naughton said:
"Parents and guardians are the real experts when it comes to their children, and it is only right that their voices are placed at the core of how we provide education in Ireland. I would like to see a strong response rate for every primary school to ensure that we have heard the views of as many households and communities as possible."
The Minister emphasised that the survey represents just the beginning of engagement with school communities.
Minister Naughton continued:
"By assessing parental demand in every community, we can identify what the need is and work with schools to support them through that process. This survey is just the beginning of our engagement. Where there is clear support from parents and guardians for change to be considered, a further process of inclusive dialogue will follow."
Where schools wish to explore options for change, the Department of Education will provide direct support, including appointing a facilitator to work with boards, staff and parents.
The survey is open to parents and guardians of children in primary school or preparing to start, as well as school staff and Boards of Management members. All responses remain confidential and anonymous.
The Department has implemented robust security measures, including validation of submitted Eircodes against the Primary Online Database and Child Benefit data to ensure responses come from eligible households. The process has been peer reviewed by the Central Statistics Office.
Initial high-level results will be published in early 2026, with the Department using the findings to inform planning at primary school level in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.
Parents can complete the survey at www.gov.ie/primaryschoolsurvey. Those unable to complete the online survey can email schoolsurvey@education.gov.ie for assistance.