To think the children of parents who fake religion to get in faith schools deserve their children to lose their places

[ReallyTired]

I am very anti faith schools inspite of being a christian. I am sure that Jesus would be lived at the way that so called faith schools select kids. I feel faith schools break up communities and results in lots of children being bussed long journeys.

Parents often find "faith" to get their child into a church school then promptly stop attending when their child starts the school. Selecting on "faith" favours the middle classes and often those who have English as a first language. It is might hard to attend church with a child who has behavioural problems.

If we allow school to select on faith should the school insist that the parents attend at least one a month inorder to keep the place. (If the place was award on the basis of church attendence.)

There are very harsh penalties for people who fake an address for admissions purposes. Surely people who fake religion should also have their children lose their place if they do not attend church once a month for their child's entire time at the school and the place be given to a child on the waiting list. (If the child on the waiting list fits the faith criteria better or lives closer.)

If the criteria specifies church attendence once a month then that is pretty measurable. Ofcourse you can not assess faith.

It is shit if another child has to go miles to a different school because of a non religous family's dishonesty. Its no different to diliberately renting a house in the catchment area to get a particular school. People who have rented to secure a place at a "good" school and then moved back have lost their place.

Surely if a place is awarded on church attendence and then the church attendence stops then the place should be withdrawn. Why is it different to the renting the house senario.

I think faith schools should allocate places on the basis of a personal interview with the parents and child. Requesting that church attendance be proven etc is an approach that I don't like. I also don't find it correct to place the burden on parish churches to monitor attendance.

"I think faith schools should allocate places on the basis of a personal interview with the parents and child"

The Oratory did this and this was found to be illegal. The tempation with interviews is that weeds out the nightmare kids or the nightmare parents. If you ask the children questions about the bible then that is selection by ablity rather than faith.

"I also don't find it correct to place the burden on parish churches to monitor attendance."

Prehaps its better to insist that the parents are on the electoral roll of a church. If you don't attend regularly then your name is automatically removed as is done in every church in the county.

Personal interview has recently been outlawed as a selection method for all state schools. It was fl it tended to favour articulate parents and the middle classes and made schools less diverse.

Devoutly Christian friend, pillar of the church, had DD interviewed many years ago for place at church school. They said she didn't meet the religious criteria. What they meant, was that she was a single mum. And that is why they're not allowed to interview any more.

Children do not and cannot have a "faith" any more than they can have a political affiliation. They may have parents of faith but they should not be branded with it themselves - and it's frankly a disgrace that so many people in this country think it's OK to determine the religion of a child (who has not chosen it for themselves) and educate them accordingly.

So, on that basis, no - a child most certainly should not lose their school place because of what "faith" their parents may or may not have.

And I don't blame any parent for faking religious belief to get their kid into a good school. If we didn't have such an appalling system in the first place where STATE FUNDED education can be offered or declined on the basis of parents superstitious beliefs then this wouldn't happen, would it?

NB Superstition is defined as the "belief in supernatural causality" which does include all religion, before anyone shrieks at me for that.

Quite. Absolutely every parent attempting to enrol their child in a faith school should first produce their own incontrovertible documentary of the existence of God. We can't have our entire education system controlled by people spouting these airy-fairy notions of faith with no proof, can we? Heck, just imagine how crazy it would be for the state to spend millions to provide segregated education for people just because they say they believe in an invisible higher power.

Oh, wait...