Scientology Ireland to make contact with County Derry schools

Letters advocating “study technology” based on the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard are to be sent to schools in Co Derry.

Letters sent from Applied Scholastics, a company based at Scientology’s National Affairs Office in Dublin, have been posted online.

The letters advocate the work of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, saying that he “discovered that there are three main barriers to study” and that he developed Study Technology as a result.

A spokesperson for Scientology Ireland told the Co Derry Post that letters are to be sent to schools across Ireland, including those in Co Derry.

Letters are signed by Dany Gatzke, the co-ordinator for Applied Scholastics in Ireland, who says that he works with “parents, students and teachers addressing the missing step in education.”

“My purpose is to help parents associations and homework clubs in cooperation with the class teachers to support the learning process with the use of Study Technology.”

The Applied Scholastics website states that the company’s aim is to “create a world free from illiteracy” and operates more than 760 centres in over 70 countries.

The website claims that their methods can have a profound effect on a student’s education and says that “the application of Study Technology has quite literally salvaged millions of lives.”

“In Mexico City, Study Technology was introduced into a private high school in which one class had a 95 percent failure rate. After the students learned to use Study Technology, the same class achieved a 90 percent passing rate,” the site reads.

“A study undertaken in England found that students improved their reading levels by 1.3 years after only ten hours of study using Mr. Hubbard’s educational methodology.”

The website says that Applied Scholastics “is not part of the Church of Scientology or any other religious organization,” but adds that the Church have “supported Applied Scholastics in numerous ways through the years.”

The Church of Scientology opened the National Affairs Office in Merrion Square, Dublin in October last year. The Church is believed to be expanding operations in Ireland, with the Dublin office also covering the north.

The Irish Examiner reported in April that the Church recorded a profit of more than €48,000 last year, following a loss of €19 in 2015. The Church also plan to recruit Irish language speakers to help translate Scientology texts – containing millions of words – into Irish. They recently advertised the jobs in newspapers in the north, including The Irish News last Thursday.

The controversial Church has been criticised widely by former members of the Church in a number of books and documentaries, most notably by Ron Miscavige, father of the Church's leader David Miscavige, actress Leah Remini and journalist Tony Ortega.