Thread: Faith schools 'may reject Christians'

Faith schools 'may reject Christians'

By Liz Lightfoot, Education Editor
(Filed: 03/10/2006)

Children from Christian families may be turned away from popular Church of England schools to make way for non-believers and those of other faiths under a new quota system.

At least a quarter of places at all new Church of England schools will be set aside for other pupils, according to guidelines outlined by the Church yesterday. The reform of school admissions will also affect Roman Catholic schools which will in future need to prove that their intakes reflect the social nature of the areas from which they recruit.

The changes have been prompted by the Government's admission code going through Parliament.

t imposes a ban on the interviewing of pupils and requires faith schools to be more open about the criteria they use to measure religious commitment.

Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, praised the new arrangement, announced in a joint statement from the two churches, as a step forward for cohesion.

"A good education is one of the best ways of building understanding of the many issues that unite us as opposed to the views that divide," he said. "We want to preserve the special contribution faith schools make to raising educational standards and offering choice.

"Church of England schools have an excellent record of providing high quality education and serving disadvantaged communities and Catholic schools are among the most ethnically and socially diverse in the country."

About a third of all mainstream state schools have a religious character. Most of these are from the major Christian denominations, with 4,600 Church of England and 2,000 Catholic schools. The change will not apply to existing schools.

The agreement follows a speech earlier this year by Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in which he said there was need for a "clear public commitment" to integrate children of all faiths and guarantee places for local children. He said that in some areas, Muslim children were as likely as others to be educated in church schools because such institutions were trusted by minority religious communities.

The Government is encouraging faith groups to get more involved in state schools by sponsoring semi-independent academies and the new generation of trust schools. The Church has said some 200 new Anglican secondary school may be opened under the plans
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...3/nfaith03.xml

Just what they have done in India and its colonies.

By providing western and Christian education to the colonies, they had/ have ensured 'loyalty' to the British traditions and indirectly to Christian values.

So what's new?

And why this pathetic headline for a very wise scheme?

Good show, I would say.