Have Faith?
Alan Johnson, the government Education Secretary, has performed the fasted U turn in political history by announcing that the plan to make all new faith schools reserve 25% of the places to other faith students, has been scrapped and a voluntary scheme is being adopted instead.
Good! Whilst you are at it Alan Johnson, scrap faith schools altogether and free young children from being brain washed into one particular faith before they are old enough to really understand what it is all about.
I would even go one step further and that is that if a religious order wishes to supply a general education to their followers’ children that includes religious instructions, prayers at assembly etc. they should fund the school from their own resources.
In a nutshell I take the view that education in the UK should be secular. If the parents want to force their children into a particular religious belief then their church/mosque/synagogue etc. should provide that education outside of normal school hours. If a particular religious order does not have its own faith school it could hire a local school for evening or Saturday morning religious education.
However in secondary secular schools there should be one period a week where a tutor from a particular religious order would come along and present his/her case about his/her religion. So instead of a school having religious INSTRUCTIONS it would be the study of various religions in the same way that geography or maths is taught. Having received this information, secondary school children could make an informed choice if they want to become a Muslim or Christian or whatever or remain secular.
Dons flack jacket, steel helmet and sits in an armoured personnel carrier to await the flack.
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