In his speech proposing the Board of Education Reports, the Bishop of Cork, the Rt Revd Paul Colton referred to 'the specific targeting of Protestant secondary schools in the October Budget, and the unilateral change of status - re-classification without consultation - of our schools by the Department of Education and Science.'

He concluded by saying, 'Let the message go out from this Synod today that, we want to be assured that the Block Grant Scheme will continue; and that we want the decision on the re-classification of our schools reversed. We want the unique situation our schools are catering for to be recognised anew, and we want them to aligned afresh, as they always have been, for practical purposes, with schools in the free education scheme.'

Seconding the report, but on behalf of the Board of Education, Northern Ireland, the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, the Most Revd Alan Harper, OBE, said that it was the Church's aim 'to develop, along with other churches, a clear and shared vision of education shaped by the core values of the Christian faith'.

He went on to say, 'Current government policy will diminish to the point of extinction our role in education. We appeal to legislators to amend proposals which, as they stand, are unjust and inequitable.'

The Archbishop was responding to the recently published, Review of Public Administration Paper 20. Commenting further, the Archbishop said, 'I believe that it is beyond contention that the Protestant Churches' representatives, as members of Area Boards and as governors of schools in the Controlled Sector, have offered the most constructive and positive engagement. The Department of Education seems to us unwise and insensitive in pursuing a policy of exclusion'.

He concluded by saying, 'These are matters fundamental to the Churches' role in public life. In seeking our rights we are, as I said at the outset, pursuing a vision of education. For us, the core of that vision must always be holistic and shaped by the values of the Christian faith.'

The reports of the Board of Education are received in two parts, relating to both jurisdictions.

Regarding the Republic of Ireland, the report said that there was 'Dismay and unprecedented concern arising from the unexpected announcement of significant cuts being made by the Government in the Budget 2009 were reported to the Board from all the partners involved in our schools. Of particular concern, at post-primary level, has been the implied re-categorisation of the Protestant voluntary sector schools.  In 1967, when free secondary education was introduced, those schools were designated as being within the free education scheme as 'block grant schools', as the funding appropriate for such schools was transferred as a block grant.  This long-established status had received the public acknowledgement of successive Ministers for Education.  It is a cause of great resentment on the part of many in our community that there has now been, without consultation or notice, an apparent realignment of the Protestant voluntary schools.'

Both reports were strongly supported by speakers, with issues of disability and schools also being highlighted.