UNITED KINGDOM, September 15, 2007: The UK government has make plans to expand the number of faith schools where religious groups can provide state approved education. However the plans have met opposition from the Bolton branch of the National Union of Teachers (NUT). Barry Conway, secretary of the Bolton branch of the NUT, said, “Religious groups have no part in education. Schools should be a place where religion can be debated and treated as a philosophy where no weight is given to any ideology. Religion today is a very sensitive subject and increasing faith schools will lead to segregation and barriers cannot be broken this way. Instead Muslims will go to Muslim schools, Catholics to Catholic schools and so on. Religious education is the subject where children can learn about all religions. Religion should be practiced in churches, mosques and other religious places, there is no room for it in schools which should not be imposing ideology on children but encouraging debate.”
On the other side of the debate the news release pointed out that Father Anthony Bailey, chairman of governors at Thornleigh Salesian College, disagreed saying there was a role for faith schools in society and he concurred with a recent statement made by the Catholic bishops of England and Wales about Catholic education.
As an example of a faith school the article mentioned that “Bolton Muslim Girls School joined the state sector at the beginning of this academic year. It is the only Muslim school run by the state, allowing it to drop its current 1,050 pound-a-year fees. The school, which caters for girls aged 11 to 16, said the new status will help them expand their curriculum and, ultimately the number of pupils at the school. The school will continue to offer up to 20 per cent of its places to non-Muslim girls.” School governor Dilaver Valli added, “The new statue will help the school integrate with others in Bolton and promote community cohesion.”
However if you are Hindu or Sikh child, the article said, “There were not enough free school places.”