The answer is “Yes”.
Should we allow faith schools at all?
It’s called freedom of choice, freedom of religion and freedom of association. If you don’t like faith schools, don’t send your children to one. That said, I don’t believe they should be funded by the state, but that’s another matter…
Mmm…
Looking at it from the point of view of the kids though, who’ll go to where ever their parents see fit. Using schools as a recruiting ground for religion isn’t healthy, schools are meant for education. If churches want to run youth outreach programs or clubs then fair enough, we all know where we stand with that, the purpose is unambiguous.
I just can’t imagine that the CofE in its Chadwick Report, weren’t rubbing their hands with glee at the thought of 200 new schools filled with fresh young minds to cultivate.
Reading that back, I think I might be being petty, sort of throwing the baby out with the bath water. I’m not keen on religion, I suppose if you are religious, you have a right to make decisions for your kids as you see fit, especially if the religious school you choose has a better academic record.
On balance, any money being spent should be used to improve state school provision, I’m just not keen on this somewhat nefarious way of shoe-horning religious teaching/indoctrination in at a young age by the back door… So to speak…
Well, yes, I don’t like the indoctrination. However, it remains a parental responsibility and parents will pass on all sorts of ideas to their children. It ain’t a matter for the state to get involved.
I go with the US constitution approach; the state shall not be involved in the making of laws either promoting or prohibiting religion.
Interestingly, although I didn’t go to a religious school, religion was taught in a manner that was pretty much indoctrination and it didn’t work.
I think that the state should be neutral with regard to religion. Meaning that no-one should be privilaged or penalised for their religious beliefs. faith schools discriminate against other religions and unbelievers. If people want to set up faith schools and pay for them to be built and maintained they should be allowed to do so, but they should not get a penny from the state. Faith schools also have the potential to cause sectarian divisions within society, that is also a reason for thinking that they are a terrible idea.
“If people want to set up faith schools and pay for them to be built and maintained they should be allowed to do so …”
That’s very gracious of you.
“but they should not get a penny from the state.”
Fine, but the people you are talking about are forced to fund the state system, so you are suggesting they pay twice. Besides, don’t forget that many of the state schools were originally set up by the churches and then taken over by the state.
Get the state out of education, let people choose for themselves, and the main problem disappears. Considering the matter objectively, religious people have just as much right to resent their money being taken and spent on irreligious schools, as non-believers resent money spent on religious schools. This is why the state should get out of the way. Then we could all agree to differ.
Another way to look at it is to ask whether the state should be allowed to set up schools. If funding went to pupils rather than schools then parents would be free to send their kids to the one of their choice and the market would decide which schools were best, of course we all know why the left abhor that idea. I don’t think there would be many straightforwardly faith based schools under such a system, not in Britain anyway which is not a very religious place anymore and certainly not a sectarian one, NI and parts of Scotland excepted. What parents want is a good education for their children, rightly or not faith schools are thought to provide that, let’s do the experiment and find out if it’s true, it’s not as if anyone has shied away from experimenting with education in the recent past.
Aye. Freedom is the answer; a free market in education. How sad that this is considered so incredibly radical.
On balance, I’m with TT on this one. I don’t like religion and I don’t like faith schools. However, while schooling is funded by the taxpayer and religious people are also taxpayers, then the situation as is is right and proper. However, Thornavis’ solution would be a sensible one – let parents have direct control over where their money is spent and let faith schools live or die by the power of customer demand – or not as the case may be.
Do all religions indoctrinate? Possibly, but they do it to varying extents. Muslims might possibly do it more than Catholics who do it more than Protestants. But what about political indoctrination by state schools. Is that more or less than Muslims?
Which indoctrination is better? That of turning the other cheek or that of killing all non-believers or that of not taking responsiblity for your own actions.