UK Catholic schools to shun Islam in new GCSE courses 

2015/11/10 Leave a comment

Odd, given the common roots of Christianity, Judaism and Islam:

Catholic schools will no longer teach Islam as part of GCSE religious studies, but will be directed to teach Christianity and Judaism.

Changes to the new religious studies GCSE specification mean schools must teach two religions as part of the course, with each weighted equally in the exam.

The Bishops Conference has decreed that all Catholic secondary schools teach Judaism alongside Christianity at GCSE, regardless of whether teachers are trained to teach other religions, such as Islam.

The 2011 census shows that Judaism is the fifth most popular religion in England, with 0.5 per cent of the population saying that it is their faith. This compares with 5 per cent identifying themselves as Islamic.

A teacher at a Catholic secondary school, who wished to remain anonymous, told Schools Week the decision was made for purely “academic” reasons. “There is a real need for understanding of Islam, but . . . the argument coming from the dioceses is that we shouldn’t sway with the times.”

According to information on the Catholic Education Service (CES) website, the body overseeing all Catholic schools, 2,156 Catholic primary and secondary schools in England educate more than 800,000 pupils.

Approximately 30 per cent of children educated at the school are of no faith or other faiths.

The teacher continued: “The bishops say Judaism is an academic study of religion rather than a social study, however, we would argue that Islam is both.”

Source: Catholic schools to shun Islam in new GCSE courses | Schools Week

Filed under Multiculturalism, Religion Tagged with , ,

Religion should be an elective course – Globe Editorial

2014/08/16 Leave a comment

Ongoing series of issues that emerge with funding of Catholic schools in Ontario:

In case there was any doubt, the Ontario Superior Court recently ruled the exemption not only applies to religious courses, but also to liturgies and retreats. The decision is a logical extension of the Education Act and earlier court rulings, and it makes a lot of sense. The primary purpose of a publicly funded school is to teach academics, not faith. Students attending publicly funded Catholic high schools are currently required to take four religion courses, one at each grade level. Any student, particularly those that are struggling academically, should have the right to forgo those classes to focus more on academics.

The trouble is some Catholic schools across the province won’t let them. Some boards claim, in a strange twist of discrimination, that their non-Catholic students are eligible for an exemption, but Catholic students aren’t. They are wrong. Forcing religious classes on any student amounts to a violation of the Education Act and willful ignorance of the recent Ontario Superior Court ruling. Catholic schools should follow the rules if they continue to rely on public funds to operate.

Religion should be an elective course – The Globe and Mail.

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Ontario Catholic schools grapple with court’s no-religion ruling: Walkom | Toronto Star

2014/04/14 Leave a comment

One of the historic anomalies in Ontario is a publicly funded separate Catholic school system that was part of the initial bargain of Confederation. A recent court decision allows students to opt-out of religious instruction. Tom Walkom of the Star:

The public sphere is inclusive. Religion is not. With religion, you are either in or out. You are either part of a body of believers or you are not.

Some religions, including Christianity, welcome converts. Many preach tolerance toward other faiths.

But in virtually every religion, there is a fundamental distinction between those who accept certain precepts as true and those who do not. And non-believers are — by definition — wrong.

Ontario’s Catholic schools have already found it hard to navigate the tricky path between church orthodoxy and public acceptability, most recently over the issue of gay-straight student clubs.

Thanks to a 1997 court decision, they have managed to retain the right to discriminate in employment. Catholic schools need not hire non-Catholic teachers.

But if they can’t make their students experience even a little bit of Catholicism — if, in order to qualify for government support, they are simply public schools with a dress code — why bother?

Ontario Catholic schools grapple with court’s no-religion ruling: Walkom | Toronto Star

Chris Selley in the National Post:

The Progressive Conservatives at least tried to address this bizarre inequality: Leader John Tory proposed extending funding to schools of other religions, and was trounced for his efforts by an electorate that then instantly forgot about the issue. They won’t go down that road again. That the Liberals and New Democrats can live with a single, publicly funded religious school system that considers homosexual acts “objectively disordered,” and buses students to pro-life rallies, only gets more astonishing every year.

One might thank Mr. Erazo for shining some light on this absurdity. But alas, nobody’s paying any attention. You can’t stop Ontario’s march of incoherent progress.

Get on your knees and opt-out

Filed under Multiculturalism, Religion Tagged with , ,