A majority of Canadians oppose the public funding of private religious schools of any kind, even though it occurs in most provinces. Fifty-one per cent oppose tax dollars going to Catholic, evangelical or other Christian schools.
The antagonism against religious schools soars higher when minority faiths are brought into the question. Roughly seven out of 10 Canadians oppose public dollars going to Jewish, Buddhist, Sikh or Muslim independent schools. Resistance to such funding is even stronger in B.C. [Source]
Alberta currently funds Catholic schools on par with public schools (i.e. 100%), as well as “charter” religious schools of other denominations and funds private religious schools to the tune of 70% of what the public schools receive (on top of uncapped tuition).
Why fund multiple competing school boards?
Why can’t we strengthen one school board that doesn’t push any particular worldview?
The author of the above linked article seems to think providing further indoctrination via religious schools to our children will promote tolerance and diversity, failing to grasp the concept that these schools may in fact be antithetical to those concepts. Just ask how diverse an Evangelical or Muslim-only school truly is.
At least some provinces have moved toward a single secular board (leaving religious education to the parents and churches).
* Alberta: fully funds faith-based and charter public schools, partial funding for private schools meeting provincial standards.
* B.C.: partially funds religious schools meeting provincial standards.
* Manitoba: partially funds religious schools meeting provincial standards.
* New Brunswick: no religious school funding.
* Newfoundland and Labrador: no religious school funding.
* Nova Scotia: no religious school funding.
* P.E.I.: no religious school funding.
* Quebec: partial funding for private religious schools meeting provincial standards.
(h/t: ReligiousRightAlert.ca)
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you should rename this blog “reasons I tell people I’m from X province (NOT ALBERTA)”
Quebec will in the very near future, not be funding, in partial, any religious schools, as per their vote provincially for revoking religious funding. This is the last year and it has steadily reduced it since 1997.
Are you related to a cacher named MHz?
Muslim parents teach their children to respect their teachers. From a very young age, we are taught that Islam teaches us that after our parents, our teachers are most deserving of respect.
It must be an extremely confusing time for the Muslim parent in Leytonstone, London. For up to 30 parents may face prosecution for withdrawing their children from school, disobeying the teachers in the school, simply to secure a decent moral upbringing for their children. The school had decided to have a week of lessons about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history. Part of this was a special adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet retitled Romeo and Julian as well as fairytales and stories changed to show men falling in love with men. Rather than filling the heads of impressionable boys and girls with fatuous drivel about gay penguins, schools should be ashamed of the fact that they are sending children out into the world barely able to read, write and add up properly. Muslim children are leaving schools without learning their cultural roots and linguistic skills.
The action was being taken against the parents as part of a policy of ‘ promoting tolerance’. So why not tolerate parents, who, for sincerely-held reasons, consider their children too young to be taught about gay relationships? This isn’t education, its cultural fascism. A record numbers of pupils persistently played truant in 2006-07, with around 272,950 pupils persistently absent in 2007, missing more than 20% of school. We rarely see councils prosecute the parents of these persistent truants. Yet, the parents who removed their children as a one-off to protect their morality may be prosecuted!
If the local council does decide to go through with a prosecution, it would be in line with the government’s approach to the Muslim community. Muslims who believe homosexuality is a sin would be labelled as extremists. Liberal totalitarianism is a growing phenomenon in Britain and the west in general but many people will be shocked that the school can override a parent’s view of what’s appropriate or inappropriate to teach their children.
This latest episode should be a wakeup call for Muslim parents. Muslim parents MUST explain our moral standards to schools and be prepared to take steps to protect our children’s morals and values from a growing agenda to impose liberal values upon them. This is an eye opening for those Muslim parents who keep on sending their children to state schools to be mis-educated and de-educated by non-Muslim monolingual teachers.
The solution of all the problems facing Muslim children is state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers. Those state schools where Muslim children are in majority may be designated as Muslim community schools. Bilingual Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods.
Iftikhar Ahmad
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk
Muslim parents have to right to pull their children out of classes because they depicted that a different view of the world is ok?
My junior high (Catholic) had pictures of aborted babies, and yet I am pro-choice. Just because your child is taught something at school doesn’t mean they will embrace it. Yes children are impressionable. Maybe you shouldn’t be teaching them that prophets comes down on flying horses, they might just belief that it is true or that perhaps santa is real.
Presently public schoos preach some good values: tolerance, honesty etc. However they don’t practice what they teach. Nobody is quite as conservative as a “liberal” (neo-conservative). Other world-views are NOT tolerated. No pre-teen will dare question “the teacher’s” theory… (oh, ‘scuse me, “Law”) of evolution.
In his late teens he might argue for the theory of Intelligent Design, but his teacher will have time for neither design nor intelligence. Rather, he risks to be mocked (read: “persecuted”) by his “liberal” teacher.
It is time to stop bragging about the accomplishments of the public school system and look to alternate private schools all benefiting from equal subsidies from provincial governments. These may offer a lot more value to the general public and force behaviour problem families to bring their kids in line or suffer the consequences of having to send their kids to the public schools.
The worldview preached at the public schools isn’t bad- in theory- but it isn’t working in the world we live in.
If you want to have conversation about relative values in the world and to resolve issues, then you had better decide to not muffle those whose opinions are crying out to be heard. We don’t want dictators here- not a Mufti, nor a president, not a pope, nor a Phd, m Ed, nor an Honourable Minister of whatever. FREEDOM for the people … freedom to be religious … freedom from secular tyranny!!!!!!!!
Islamic schools are cool. You would be surprised … really you would to see/hear all we learn there. Saudi Arabia sends us all these Wahabi preachers, ….ooops, – teachers, who know some things about Canada that most Canadians have never heard of. Our chemistry classes are exceptional to say the least.
Some people do object about our curriculum; can’t figure why though! They know they shouldn’t stick their noses into our private affairs. That is discrimination! Don’t you go calling that discernment now.
And those Catholics; you know Ontario pays the whole shot for them; why not for us? And forget about the evangelicals … you know the dangerous fundamentalists. Don’t believe that “turn the other cheek” line. It’s dumb if you ask me!