Open schools

Catholic schools that are open to different races and religion, welcoming to the poorer sections of society, and strong in the support of parents and parishes that cooperate to make them work to the best: these are the some of the findings of a study conducted between 2003 and 2005 in over 5500 primary schools in England, 500 of them Catholic, and 1112 secondary schools, 106 of them Catholic. The survey, called “Quality and performance: a survey of education in Catholic schools”, was conducted by the Catholic Education Service, the agency of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales that deals with education. It analysed the data furnished by “Ofsted”, the inspectorate of the Ministry of Education in the UK. For an analysis of the situation of Catholic schools in England and Wales we interviewed LAURA McCANN , staff member of the Catholic Education Service in London. Where did the idea for this study come from and what’s its significance? “Our aim was to explode some of the widespread myths about our schools, for example the idea that they accept mainly middle-class students of European origin. It’s important to be able to document that Catholic schools welcome pupils of different races and religions, as demonstrated by the recent controversy about the quota of pupils of other religions that the government wanted to impose on our schools. As a general rule Catholic schools have 70% of Catholic pupils and 30% of other religious denominations or no faith at all, but these percentages depend on the area of the country in which the school in question is situated. For example, schools in the south-west usually have a low proportion of children from Catholic families, but this is now increasing thanks to the arrival of a high number of immigrants from Poland. In London as a rule there are not enough places in schools to satisfy Catholic families and it’s therefore difficult to make room for pupils of other religions. Whatever their religious faith and origin, Catholic education treats all children as equals; each religion has the right to be respected and each child deserves the best possible education to respond to the dignity that was given to each by God”. Why are Catholic schools so open to pupils of different social classes and the percentage of those of different ethnic origin is higher than the national average? “The term catholic means universal and that’s why our schools accept pupils of different races and religions. We have for example a high proportion of children from the Caribbean, many immigrants from various Catholic countries throughout the world, especially Poles in recent months, and we also accept children from the families of political refugees”. Why has the Catholic Church so strenuously opposed the imposition of quotas for the admission of pupils to Catholic schools, forcing the government to abandon this policy? “Because it would create divisions, cause resentment and would be difficult to implement from a practical point of view. The introduction of these quotas would also weaken the legal position of the executive organs responsible for running Catholic schools since they would be stripped of their power to decide what pupils to admit to the schools. The government’s attempt to control the composition of classrooms in Catholic schools ignores the fact that our schools already contribute to social cohesion. The study we have published demonstrates that expulsions are less frequent in Catholic schools and that discipline and learning are better because pupils feel themselves considered as persons, with a spiritual dimension of their own”. What are the most important challenges that Catholic schools have to tackle in British society today and are they different from those of the past? “Catholic schools are victims of their own success. The applications we receive far outstrip the available places. According to many parents who fail to get their children into our schools, it’s not right that only some should have this possibility and consequently (they say) it would be better to deny it to everyone. A second problem, linked to it, is the fact that we live in a society that seems incapable of understanding that religion and faith form part of everyday life and prefers to brush religion under the carpet and reduce it to a private activity. It’s a creeping form of secularisation. Catholic schools risk not being able to survive the attacks against them mounted by these two schools of thought”.