Freethought & Rationalism Archive

01-10-2003, 07:28 AM

I was pointed to this article in The Independent by the elecronic newsletter of the National Secular Society.

Quote:

Remembering that there were other � Roman Catholic � church secondaries in the borough, I went back to the local authority brochure. Maths has never been my strong point, but even I could see that adding up all the secondary places available to boys from a religious background came to a total of 1,063. Adding up all the places available to non-religious boys, on the other hand, gave a total figure of only 814.(Girls are better off because there is a big all-girl community school in the borough.) In inner London, where every good school place is bitterly fought over, that began to look like a bit of a disadvantage for the non-believers � a hefty 24 per cent fewer places for them, in fact.

Note for the non-English: Most children at state schools in England and Wales transfer from primary schools to secondary schools at the age of 11/12. Church schools have a long tradition in England and have been partially funded by the Government for a long time. The Blair Government has gone overboard in promoting an increase in the numbers of faith schools while reducing the amount the faiths have to pay for the running of their schools (down to 10% of the total now).

The writer of this article is looking at the situation in a London borough. In the countryside, the situation can be even worse, with the only publically funded school within a reasonable distance being a church school.

Seeker630 · 01-13-2003, 05:52 AM

But look on the bright side. For all of that public spending on church schools, England seems to have the highest percentage of citizens who are non-believers of any other western country, maybe with the exception of Scandanavian countries, who also have official churches. Interesting isn't it? The more religion is forced on people the more atheism becomes the default state for more people.

Bottom line---the theology sucks and the failure of the attempts to brainwash kids shows it.

01-14-2003, 10:12 AM

Seeker: the point of this article is that the church schools, despite their public funding, are allowed to discriminate against the children of unbleievers, who are therefore sometimes relegated to the worst schools that no-one wants to go to.

Seeker630 · 01-15-2003, 06:06 AM

I understood the gist of the article alright. I was making a related but different point.

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01-13-2003, 05:52 AM	#2
Seeker630 Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: North America Posts: 1,624	But look on the bright side. For all of that public spending on church schools, England seems to have the highest percentage of citizens who are non-believers of any other western country, maybe with the exception of Scandanavian countries, who also have official churches. Interesting isn't it? The more religion is forced on people the more atheism becomes the default state for more people. Bottom line---the theology sucks and the failure of the attempts to brainwash kids shows it.

01-14-2003, 10:12 AM	#3
DMB Guest Posts: n/a	Seeker: the point of this article is that the church schools, despite their public funding, are allowed to discriminate against the children of unbleievers, who are therefore sometimes relegated to the worst schools that no-one wants to go to.

01-15-2003, 06:06 AM	#4
Seeker630 Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: North America Posts: 1,624	I understood the gist of the article alright. I was making a related but different point.

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