charitable trust has been set up to discuss the creation of a
state-run multi-faith secondary school in London. The school
would offer a religious ethos, but would be attended by Muslim,
Jewish, Hindu, Sikh and Christian pupils.
The vision is of a multi-faith school in which faith is taken seriously, so that each child will learn something serious about their own religion but will be taught in a school environment with pupils of other religions
A number of religious leaders are involved in the scheme, including Rabbis Jonathan Wittenberg and Julia Neuberger; the Bishop of Oxford, Dr Richard Harries and Zaki Badawi, chairman of the Imams and Mosques council. "The vision is of a multi-faith school in which faith is taken seriously, so that each child will learn something serious about their own religion but will be taught in a school environment with pupils of other religions," said Dr Harries.
The government recently announced that it wants to allow the creation of more faith schools, in areas where there is parental demand. They argue that these schools have a distinctive ethos which contributes to improving academic achievement. A disproportionate number of faith schools bear this out - an above-average number have been represented in inspectors' lists of 'most outstanding schools' in recent years.
(From Independent Catholic News)