Sir, In his letter criticising “exclusive” faith schools (Aug 29) Lord Baker of Dorking cites the experience of Northern Ireland, whose social and political development has been dominated for over a century by Protestant-Catholic divisions. It is a unique problem, far deeperrooted than the system of schools.

The UK of today is a totally different story. It is a multi-ethnic society with a variety of cultures that need to be taught and passed on. To withdraw state funding from communities seeking to educate their children within their own religious framework would be a denial of freedom of educational choice — a principle for which Lord Baker was an eloquent advocate during his years as Education Secretary.

He argues that future faith schools should be “inclusive”. If this means that they should be forced to admit pupils of other faiths, this would undermine the very ethos of these schools and cause far greater resentment among minority groups than the “separatism” he seems to fear. Alternatively, the result could be the conversion of those “outsiders” to the faith of the host schools, which would be the very opposite of what he seems to be trying to achieve.

The concerns Lord Baker expresses about Muslim schools should not be allowed to damage the position for other faiths, whose schools have been tried and tested for many decades. In particular, Catholic and Jewish schools — “exclusive” as they certainly are — have produced generations of balanced, well-educated students adhering proudly to their religious heritage while developing into upright, integrated members of British society.

CLLR BRIAN GORDON
London Borough of Barnet

Sir, Lord Baker wrote of the 100 Muslim schools waiting to apply for exclusivity (non-Muslims would not be acceptable): “The entrance criteria are explicit: the purpose is to create a total Muslim personality.”

A “total Muslim personality” implies to me one who demands Sharia as the law; the full mechanistic rituals of prayer; submissive females in the garb of Asia and the Middle East; learning the Koran in its original Arabic and conditioned to regard the ways of the West as alien.

How is that for a basis for integration? Perhaps Ruth Kelly left out faith schools from the deliberations of her commission because she has been listening to too many Muslim clerics and elders.

JAMES CLARKE
Woking, Surrey

Sir, If the community providing a faith school is already well integrated into the host society it should facilitate the integration of its pupils and their parents — immigrants in particular. But faith schools are likely to be damaging to social cohesion in two circumstances. The first is when the faith community is itself badly integrated into the host society.

The second is when the host society is itself deeply segregated, as in Northern Ireland. There, the solution that I and others first proposed was the establishment of a network (now of 57 schools) where the children of Catholics and Protestants would be educated together on a footing of equality, receiving a religious education that satisfies their parents.

Catholic schools have had an important part to play in integrating into British society the immigrants who have for many years been coming from Italy, Spain and Portugal. And they are now doing the same for Polish, Lithuanian, Slovakian and Ukrainian immigrants. Hampering them would be incredibly foolish.

Helping the Muslim community to integrate is another matter, and the leaders of the Catholic and Islamic communities should discuss the creation of joint or shared schools where the children of Christians and Muslims could be educated on a footing of equality and receive a religious education that satisfies their parents.

In Northern Ireland that was done by determined Catholic and Protestant parents (supported by Protestant churches, but vigorously opposed by the Catholic bishops). How much easier, quicker and more effective it would be if the religious leaders of the Christian and Islamic communities would take the initiative.

ANTHONY E. C. W. SPENCER
Pastoral Research Centre
Taunton

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