Poor little mites, only 30 places for them
Big excitement: another religious state school is opening in Leicester, a Hindu one modeled on another in Harrow (London). Hooray hooray, even though there are people who think Not hooray hooray.
It, like other faith school proposals for “free” schools, has its opponents, those that think the plethora of religious schools being opened under the Gove initiative will destroy community cohesion and increase segregation on racial and religious grounds among pupils.
And that that’s not something the state should be fostering and funding. What’s the other view, exactly? I can never quite figure it out. That it will do those things but those are good things to do? Or that it won’t do those things? Either one seems…feeble.
The programme is intended to overcome the situation whereby there are a million Hindus in the UK but only 30 Hindu primary school places a year for them.
But there you are, you see, that’s just it: what does that mean, “for them”? Nothing, basically. You might think (if you were a naïve observer) it meant the children of Hindus are barred from all UK schools apart from a selected 30. But of course that’s not the case: the children of Hindu parents like the children of any other parents can attend state schools. The “for them” implies that children of Hindu parents perhaps “need” to attend specifically Hindu schools, even though parts of the article put that very idea into question. It’s a goofy, retrograde, sloppy idea that’s been coming into vogue in recent years, and people should toughen up and get rid of it. Children don’t “need” to go to any kind of denominational school, and assuming they do does indeed push them into religious and sometimes ethnic segregation. Get over it.
This is worth looking at:
http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2011/03/is-buddhism-religion.html
But, of course, Hindu students attending such schools are thereby able to engage in interfaith activities with students from contrasting faith schools. See: segregation is good!
Where’s Andrew Lovley when we need him?
Well that seems to be exactly what they think – that it’s all a beautiful multicultural interfaith tapestry. Right, like India. [smites brow]
Of course, outside of the atheist community, it is quite rare to find people applying the same arguments to Christian schools.
Government figures on faith schools
“As at 14 March 2011, the Department for Education has received 323 proposals from groups and individuals interested in setting up a free school.”
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/110322w0001.htm#11032288000671
This is the most pressing issue at hand for secularists in my opinion. It’s much easier to nip the idea in the bud than to fight them once they’re established.
Here in Toronto, an afrocentric school opened a couple of years back. And the Toronto District School Board head seems bent on making some all-boy high schools, since their test scores are lower.
But test scores aren’t everything. Raising a generation of teenagers on how not to speak with women seems to be asking for trouble. I don’t have a problem with a school that has a curriculum geared to the population in its neighbourhood up to a point. But I think schools who focus on different vocations is much more productive and healthy. Like arts-based curriculums, science-based curriculums, etc, which we also have here in Toronto.
Sigh. Where I grew up in India (reasonably educated)hindu’s (with means) actually preferred Jesuit schools since the standard of education was better.
It seems a common occurrence that people who migrate from their home country tend to become more sensitive to preserving their “culture”. people who rarely stepped inside a temple in India suddenly find it imperative to go every weekend to some far away temple for reasons best known to them. And they want their children to share their traditions leading to the coining of acronyms like ABCD and BBCD.
Though probably better suited for the Alberta Catholic school story, an anecdote:
My cousin moved from the divided Alberta system to our regular public schol system in B.C. when we were both about 12.
We were waliking around the neighborhood when I spotted a classmate and gave him a casual wave.
“You know that guy? Is he Catholic or Protestsant?” asked cuz.
I had to think, but vaguely recalled him being Catholic.
“Let’s h\get him!” replied my cousin.
“Wat are you, some kind of nut?”I reponded.
Seems like the separate schoolsustem had opened a mini-Wars-of-Religion
(disclaimer -this was 40 years ago.)
Sorry for the typing- it’s early here.
So let’s see, first we put children in segregated schools based on the flavour of invisible sky fairies that their parents believe in and then we pour lots of resources into interfaith, ecumenical and multicultural initiatives to try to fix the problems caused by a segregated school system.
Makes perfect sense to me.