Faith schools key to civic renewal?

[Dave Roberts]

Archbishop Vincent Nichols warned that treating students as "consumers" and neglecting their "innate spirituality" would damage society. In comments that are set to provoke secularists who have campaigned for less religion in schools, he said that faith is a crucial dimension in education.

The new head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales stressed that schools play a key role in developing virtues and a sense of civic responsibility. He said that a tendency to view children in terms of their ability in exams rather than as people risks "polluting" their education. His comments follow a growing call for acts of worship to be abolished in schools and accusations that faith schools are being selective in choosing children from affluent backgrounds.

In his first public address since taking office, the archbishop countered the criticisms of Catholic schools, arguing that faith schools benefit wider society and that religion must be freely expressed in schools.

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