As public school educators choose to teach political correctness as a substitute for values, an increasing number of parents are considering parochial education for their children. But even that may no longer be a safe haven, as one Christian school has been warned it could face closure if it doesn’t invite, for example, a Muslim imam to lead its assemblies and teach in its classrooms.
The good news is that this is happening in Britain; the bad news is that if Americans aren’t vigilant, we can’t be far behind.
Although the most recent complaint comes from a Christian school, Jewish schools are also being targeted by government education inspectors for failure “to promote ‘British values’ such as individual liberty and tolerance in the wake of the Trojan Horse scandal, involving infiltration by hard-line Muslim groups in Birmingham” according to the Daily Telegraph, which reported.
It follows complaints from orthodox Jewish schools about recent inspections in which girls from strict traditional backgrounds were allegedly asked whether they were being taught enough about lesbianism, whether they had boyfriends and if they knew where babies came from.
Parents often send their children to private, parochial schools for the express purpose of avoiding this claptrap. They want their kids to actually learn something of value–such as reading, writing and arithmetic–not political correctness.
As for the complaint involving the Christian school, the Telegraph reported:
Inspectors are understood to have warned the head that the school, which was previously rated as “good,” that it would be downgraded to “adequate” for failing to meet standards requiring it to “actively promote” harmony between different faiths because it had failed to bring in representatives from other religions.
They warned that unless the school could demonstrate how it was going to meet the new requirements, there would be a further full inspection which could ultimately lead to it being closed.
And mere field trips to other places of worship is not enough for the schools “to meet the new requirements.” The schools are required to invite leaders of other faiths to actively participate in the children’s education, in a manner that ultimately fails to “respect the religious ethos of faith schools,” Simon Calvert, deputy director of the Christian Institute, wrote the Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan. According to the Telegraph:
Listing recent cases involving criticism of Anglican, Roman Catholic and Jewish schools by Ofsted, he added: “The Christian Institute is currently working with an independent Christian School which has been marked down by Ofsted for not promoting other faiths.
“Astonishingly, it [the school] was told it should invite representatives of other faith groups to lead assemblies and lessons, such as an Imam,” Calvert said. “The new requirements are infringing the rights of children, parents, teachers and schools to hold and practice their religious beliefs.”
Question: Are faith-based Muslim required to invite Christian and Jewish leaders into their classrooms? I assume not.
(h/t: Young Conservatives)
