Let’s close for David Koresh’s birthday
Two councils in East London have irritated a lot of people (and perhaps pleased a few, though that looks doubtful) by instructing all schools under their control to shut for the annual celebrations of Eid-Ul-Fitr, Diwali and Guru Nanak’s Birthday. They have their reasons.
The council has said that the policy is intended to “raise awareness of different faiths and cultures within the school community, which in turn supports cohesion for the wider community”.
Dear god – do people just swallow nauseating bromides in pill form so that they will belch them for a stipulated period afterwards? Do they get them inscribed on the inside of their eyelids? Or am I over-thinking this – is it simply a matter of learning five or six key words and then just trotting them out on all occasions so as not to have to think at all ever under any circumstances? I ask because that sure is what it looks like – and it frankly makes me want to punch something. Community community community, pause, cohesion. Then again – community community different, cohesion community different. Let’s raise awareness of our differences so that we can have more cohesion. Are you sure about that? Are you sure that’s how it works?
Especially when, if the Telegraph is right, there are more Jews in Waltham Forest than there are Sikhs, yet ‘schools have not been told to close for any Jewish holidays.’ What’s that about?
I have a question, too. I don’t understand this usage:
Parents and teaching unions have joined in the criticism of the Waltham Forest policy, which affects all community primary and secondary schools in the borough, although not Church of England or Catholic schools.
What on earth does ‘community’ mean there? Is it a euphemism for secular? If so, why is a euphemism needed? It presumably doesn’t mean ‘state’ since C of E (and Catholic?) schools can be state schools…right? Or am I confused? Does ‘community’ just mean ‘without specific religious affiliation’? Is that the normal way of saying that? Is it new?
Yes, that’s basically it – (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_school#England_and_Wales ) a lot of schools in England are affiliated with the Church of England, especially Primary schools.
I don’t know when they began to start calling the non-church affiliated ones ‘community schools’ – but when they merged the boys and girls schools in my home town in the late 1980s, the merged school was given the title ‘Community School’. Even as 12 year olds, we thought this sounded a little silly…
That is, a lot of state schools are affiliated with the C of E, which sounds anomalous to Americans. So the idea is that unaffliated state schools are called community schools, right?
But why, one wonders. It seems so…non-descriptive.
“So the idea is that unaffliated state schools are called community schools, right?
But why, one wonders. It seems so…non-descriptive.
| OB | 2009-10-18 – 13:38:44 |”
It is – I imagine somewhere along the way officials decided that whereas ‘C of E School’ sounds like it has some sort of graspable, admirable ‘faith’ identity, non-religious schools can’t simply be ‘schools’, or god forbid ‘secular’ schools; they must have some pointless none-information-adding prefix.
Heaven forfend people get the idea that schools can simply be ‘schools’, and the ones with a religious prefix are actually the ones adding something unnecessary into the mix.
“Community” here is a bit of bureaucrat speak. It means funded, controlled and managed by the local government – as opposed to “voluntary controlled” and “voluntary aided” schools where the government pays the running costs but school is run and managed independently (often by religions) who control admissions, hiring, policies etc…You also get “foundation” schools – a new invention akin to US Charter schools.
I suppose they chose “community” because it has less negative connotations then “Council Schools” which is what they are. They used to be called LEA Schools (local education authority) until the LEAs were abolished.
They are not secular – since all state schools have to provide daily worship – although many in practice have managed to secularise this.
Hope that clears up the confusion. Not saying the system is sensible though. It is obscene that state funded services can discriminate on the basis of religion.
Ah, thanks, Maya; that explains it.
So is council housing ‘community housing’ now?
Or should that be ‘community homing’…
In my experience, the daily worship thing was honoured more in the breach than anything. That said, the Head of 6th Form at my ‘Community’ School is these days an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society… (He went on to become an MP) Thinking about it, I remember him putting on a screening of Life of Brian just before Easter Break one year…
I live in Waltham Forest, and always have done.
You have to remember that LBWF have one permanent characteristic:
Whatever the decision is they will almost certainly get it wrong.
[ I could give you a LONG list, but let’s not do that right now, shall we? ]
So, in that respect there is nothing new here.
This does appear, however, to approach new levels of stupidity, ignorance, and disregard of local residents’ wishes – especially as I understand that the local schools and teachers are against the move.
Of course, by screwing around with even the pathetic level of education that is all that is now available to LBWF’s children, the councillors are ensuring that, when these children become voters, they will be even more susceptible to the pernicious loads of rubbish that all the parties seem to be putting out these days.
P.S. As an indicator of LBWF’s hopelessness, there is one long-standing councillor who is functionally illiterate!