This week faith schools have had some really bad press. This week community schools have had some really bad press too and I have been surprised by the strength of negative feeling people have had around the events unfolding in Birmingham. Many people are saying that in the light of the Trojan Horse scandal that there is no place for religion in education and with that I have to disagree. The school that I am a Chair of is a faith school and we do some really wonderful work. Our school is a diverse cultural mix with one-third of our school made up of Muslim children and guess what? They all get on. It is a school built on a foundation of respect and tolerance. The children learn about Catholicism and explore the practices of all faiths. Our children visit places of worship and learn about many world faiths in the pursuit of understanding, creating a culture of social cohesion.
It saddens me that people are quick to forget the long history that religion has played in the United Kingdom education system. Almost a third of all schools in the UK are faith based and they are popular because parents want to send their children to a school that has a moral compass. Call me a dreamer but no one is born with hate in their hearts. These are views imprinted and if we can expose our children to a diversity of cultures and beliefs surely this will breed open-mindedness.
In Birmingham, mistakes have been made but the schools at the heart of the investigation are community schools that have taken a bias of one particular religion too far. A faith school is obliged by the Department of Education under the national curriculum framework to give all its pupils a broad and balanced religious education that promotes spiritual, moral and cultural development. A community school needs to reflect the needs of every one in its community and not at the expense of one section or another. The education system in the UK is fractured. When a system is broken, a minority will abuse it. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. Reform the system and try to make it work.
And finally, let’s think about those who are suffering in all this chaos. The children that attend those schools. When I took my GCSEs I was worried about suffering from hay fever during an exam. Imagine taking your GCSEs this week with a pack of journalists camped outside your school. Makes you think doesn’t it?
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You are so right Michelle, my son attends a Catholic School, his school celebrates and researches all religions.Thats how it should be.
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