The 11th Annual General Meeting of Educate Together was held recently. This was an important meeting of the 44 Educate Together school communities.

Educate Together is a company with charitable status that is the patron of most Educate Together schools. Its members are the boards of management and a small number of local patrons of Educate Together schools. As company, its policy decisions are subject to democratic vote at general meetings, its finances are public and its board members are elected and serve in a voluntary capacity.

At this year's AGM discussed motions on a wide range of topics. Highlighted issues were:

• The growing financial difficulties facing national schools and need for the doubling of the primary capitation grant.
• Enrolment policies and policies on maximum school size
• The need for continuous pressure on government to deliver on promises to solve the accommodation needs of schools
• The need for the State to support Educate Together's ethical curriculum on the same basis as it supports the Catholic and Protestant curricula.
• New Schools Grants and Start Up grants

Key note speeches were made by Niall Crowley, CEO of the Equality Authority, Brigid McManus, Secretary General of the Department of Education and Science and Paul Rowe, CEO of Educate Together.

The meeting saw the election of 4 new Directors to the Educate Together Board and the election of Robert Dowling as Chairperson. Noreen Byrne was warmly congratulated for her time as chairperson and Chris Lennon and Frieda McGovern for their years of voluntary service on the Board. The four new directors are Gerry Breslin, Mark Kelly, Andrea Burke-Khan and Patricia Murphy. Gerry and Andrea are teachers in Educate Together schools (Newbridge and Griffeen valley), Mark is Director of the Irish Council of Civil Liberties and Patricia is principal of Rathfarnham ETNS and one of the four authors of Educate Together's ethical curriculum.

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