Great Britain: Bishops’ Conference, parties should declare their stance on future of 2,200 Catholic schools during electoral campaign

“With the general election imminent and when political parties are canvassing for our support, it is important that we ask about a political party’s commitment to our community’s precious schools”. Marcus Stock, Bishop of Leeds and president of the Catholic Education Service of the UK Bishops, has published a statement on the website of the Bishops’ Conference to raise awareness about the fate of 2,200 Catholic schools across England and Wales. Their “future existence” should “be uncontroversial” since they provide more inclusive and better-quality education. Yet, the Bishop explains, “there are a number of organisations campaigning either to end the provision of schools in England which have a religious character or to transform the curriculum in such a way that it would remove the ability of Catholic schools to maintain their specific ethos”. The statement raises some fundamental issues on which political parties are invited to clearly state their stance. These include respect for “core principles” such as autonomy and independence in decision-making affecting schools; “Catholic Religious Education”, “an academically rigorous theological discipline”, appropriate “sex education” or even the ability to open new schools (there have been 50,000 new enrolments since 2010). The schools of the Catholic community are “part of our commitment to the common good of society and the education of young people in our country”.