Submitted by Graham - Please note that this article is from 2008
When two worlds collide: threat of class warfare over faith-based schooling
By John Kaye and Stephen O'Doherty
June 2, 2008
The debate about 'values based' education is hotting up. John Kaye and Stephen O'Doherty outline the opposing positions on the role of religion in schools.
JOHN KAYE Greens NSW MP and education spokesman: Alarm bells start sounding when young people leave school confused about the boundaries between faith and evidence. They get even louder when the penny drops on the massive state and federal funding that supports the growth of schools that systematically mislead their students. And they reach a crescendo when governments are caught accepting the distortion of education in faith-based private schools.
The growing phenomenon of faith-based institutions needs to be carefully separated from common or garden variety religious private schools. No clear academic definition exists in the literature but in the Australian context it is the schools where reasoning based on testing hypothesis against evidence is subjugated to religious faith. It is the same schools where free inquiry is constrained and critical thinking is confined within the boundaries of religious dogma.
Full Story: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/when-two-worlds-collide-threat-of-class-warfare-over-faithbasedschooling/2008/06/01/1212258647635.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
