Parent alert!
Although the vast majority of people in Ireland are Catholics, pressure is growing to deny them the right to a Catholic education for their children.
Parents from the minority religions are also affected by this pressure, coming mainly from a range of secularist lobby groups.
The bid to secularise education, however, is not confined to Ireland. Battles over the kind of education to be given to the young are raging in many countries, particularly in the West.
The struggle is rarely over the subjects to be taught in school, such as maths, languages, home economics; but over the most fundamental issues, the religious and moral formation of children.
It is about issues which give young people a sense of purpose and meaning in life, which will profoundly affect their ability to cope with difficulties and which will shape their whole future happiness.
Control
In response to the secular ideology that often prevails in state schools, some parents have decided to educate their children at home.
Their decision has provoked a strong government reaction in Sweden, Germany and other countries.
This indicates the secularist state’s ruthless desire for complete control over children.
In Ireland the Catholic Schools Partnership has defended the right of parents to, if they choose, home-school their children. It was a significant step to take.
The Partnership has insisted that “the ultimate expression of parental choice in schooling is the decision to educate children at home.” That is fundamental.
Currently plans are afoot to hold a referendum in Ireland on “children’s rights”. This needs to be vigorously opposed if it attempts, in any way, to undermine parents’ rights to form and protect their children.
Parents from the minority religions are also affected by this pressure, coming mainly from a range of secularist lobby groups.
The bid to secularise education, however, is not confined to Ireland. Battles over the kind of education to be given to the young are raging in many countries, particularly in the West.
The struggle is rarely over the subjects to be taught in school, such as maths, languages, home economics; but over the most fundamental issues, the religious and moral formation of children.
It is about issues which give young people a sense of purpose and meaning in life, which will profoundly affect their ability to cope with difficulties and which will shape their whole future happiness.
Control
In response to the secular ideology that often prevails in state schools, some parents have decided to educate their children at home.
Their decision has provoked a strong government reaction in Sweden, Germany and other countries.
This indicates the secularist state’s ruthless desire for complete control over children.
In Ireland the Catholic Schools Partnership has defended the right of parents to, if they choose, home-school their children. It was a significant step to take.
The Partnership has insisted that “the ultimate expression of parental choice in schooling is the decision to educate children at home.” That is fundamental.
Currently plans are afoot to hold a referendum in Ireland on “children’s rights”. This needs to be vigorously opposed if it attempts, in any way, to undermine parents’ rights to form and protect their children.
