Tuesday 23 March 2010

More obfuscation?

What does the following statement mean?

" All Catholic schools in the Diocese teach sex and relationship education, and are required to do so in accordance with the teachings of the Church."

a) Is the writer saying that the Teaching of the Catholic Church mandates the teaching of sex and relationship education in Catholic schools?

b) Is he saying that Catholic schools which teach SRE must teach it in accordance with the Teaching of the Church?

I am not sure how the Director of Education for the Archdiocese of Westminster, Mr. Paul Barber, who wrote the statement above,  expects  it to be understood.

If he means a),  then he ought to produce the evidence to support his claim.

If he means b),  if the Education Bill becomes law, Catholic schools will discover that while they may  teach SRE in accordance with the Teaching of the Church, they will also be required to teach SRE according to any other view that the Government wishes to promote.At best, there will be 'faith based' SRE, and 'state imposed' SRE.

'And, both '  not  'either, or'.
Children in Catholic schools will receive a sort of 'pick an' mix' SRE.

Thanks to John Smeaton,  on whose blog you can find the rest of what Mr Paul Barber has to say about That Bill

1 comment:

  1. 'number10.gov.uk' aka 'the official site of the prime minister's office' sent me a response to an e-petition that I signed Against Abortion Ads.

    This may be aside from the point, but the response includes 'This means that advertisements for commercial post-conception advice services offering individual advice on personal problems are not allowed.' Hence, no abortion ads?? Right well, if the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP)have condemned proposed abortion ads, Why Is It Acceptable to advertise abortion 'services' in the classrooms of minors? It seems to me that what's not good enough for the independent advertising bodies, is clearly considered good enough 'education'.

    Response from the gov to my signing the petition; http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page23036

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