Catholic Education an Irish Schools Trust


Catholic Education, an Irish Schools Trust is the Trustee body for 107 Catholic Voluntary Secondary Schools in Ireland.

History

In Ireland, the majority of secondary schools were established and were controlled by a number of Roman Catholic religious congregations. By the late 20th century these religious congregations were in serious decline and they decided to merge their resources in a number of collective school management groupings known as trusts.
The CEIST Trust was established in 2007 to carry on the education work of five religious congregations:

Organisation

CEIST CLG was incorporated in May 2007. The religious congregations appointed 16 CEIST Members - 11 religious and 5 lay. The Board of Directors has 12 members - 3 religious and 9 lay.
Day-to-day management remains the responsibility of each school’s management, in accord with the Education Act 1998. The schools are supported by the trustees from the central office.
It currently oversees approximately 58,000 students and 4,000 teachers and administrative staff. Currently one in six second level students in Ireland attends a CEIST secondary school.

Schools

Assessment

A recent review of its development over the past ten years identified certain strengths and weaknesses. There continues to be debate about state-sponsored denominational education in Ireland.