LONDON - 3 July 2006 - 1,000 words

'What is the point of Catholic schools?'
 
Paul Donovan

What is the point of Catholic Schools? This was a question that sprang to mind at the recent Catholic Education Service conference looking at relations between Church and Government. The question arose primarily out of a presentation made by Bishop Edwin Regan based on a study by Leslie Francis and Mandy Robinson, comparing the attitude of children at Catholic schools to that of their secular counterparts.

The study, Urban Hope and Spiritual Health: The Adolescent Voice, involved 30,000 pupils aged 14 to 15 in schools in England and Wales. The responses broke down into four domains: the personal, communal, environmental and transcendental. The question over the purpose of the Catholic School arose because there was so little difference between the responses of pupils. So 70 per cent of pupils from the secular sector were happy at school compared to 69 per cent of Catholic pupils. Similarly, some 27 per cent from both groups felt there was nothing they could do to help solve the world,s problems. Some 28 per cent of secular school pupils were worried about being bullied at school compared to 31 per cent of their Catholic counterparts. The only areas where there was significant difference were on questions of belief in God (71 per cent of Catholics believed compared to 37 per cent of secular school pupils), belief in life after death (Catholics 56 per cent compared to secular 43 per cent), concern for poverty in the Third World (Catholics 64 per cent compared to 57 per cent for secular schools) and there was a greater sense of purpose about life from Catholics (64 per cent compared to 54 per cent). More statistics followed from OFSTED inspector Tim Key who told how Catholic schools generally performed better across most criteria than secular schools. Some 60 per cent of Catholic Primary schools inspected over the past two years were found to come in the excellent to good category relating to ethos compared to 45 per cent in the secular sector. In the secondary schools the split was 49 per cent to 32 per cent for the same question. Catholic sixth form colleges were also found to perform better in terms of leadership and management over the past four years showing a 47 per cent to 25 per cent advantage over secular schools. There were also proportionately less Catholic schools registering in the area of inadequate schools requiring special measures than secular schools.

All of this provided a view that Catholic schools really vary very little from their secular counterparts other than that they tend to get better exam results and install a sense of discipline in pupils. This is no doubt one reason why Catholic schools have become so popular with parents and government. However, for our schools to be truly Catholic requires far more. There has to be more emphasis on developing all aspects of the human person. If Catholic schools have become reduced down to something between an exam factory and a boot camp they are most definitely failing in their calling.

Jesuit Provincial Michael Holman suggested that the Catholic schools have bought far too much into the materialist consumer culture. This culture perceives the value of people only in so far as they match up to the advertising driven celebrity world that is served up regularly in the media. Children and parents view themselves in comparison to how they shape up to celebrity idols like footballer David Beckham or actress Angelina Jolie. This results in a real lack of self worth and ultimately unhappiness.

Father Holman also suggested that the process of faith transmission from generation to generation was not being fulfilled through the work of the Catholic schools. This is no doubt true. To a lesser or greater extent many Catholic churches suffer from a cycle whereby a child is brought up a Catholic to the point of confirmation into the faith. He or she then leaves the Church only to return when they want to get their own children into the Catholic school. The whole process then starts again. This model is no way to transmit the faith from one generation to the next and in many ways epitomises the consumerist approach that undermines the education system today.

Father Holman mapped out a new vision for Catholic education, based on community. The individual would be valued as part of community. "What if we set about promoting an education that centred around the kind of people our young people are becoming, their qualities as people, not in terms of what they might contribute or achieve, but in terms of themselves and who they are," said Father Holman.

The new vision would see a real renewal of links with gospel values to create a much more holistic vision of education going beyond exam results. Father Holman places faith transmission, social cohesion and human happiness at the centre of his vision. All three could come about if there was this new link established with the gospel values. The implementation of such a vision would have society wide benefits, resulting from the generations of children coming through committed to community and the common good. Such an education is the antidote to the me, me, me society that has become so prevalent today. The ideas put forward by Father Holman and others as to the future of education need to be debated and developed.

Faith schools have come under attack recently for fostering divisiveness in society. This has no doubt brought forward in some a defensive tendency to say no, no we're not different. However the strength of the Catholic school comes from its uniqueness, its emphasis on the community and the common good. In time the rest of society could once again embrace these ideas but at the moment the Catholic schools need to become beacons promoting an education for all regardless of means, allowing each individual to maximise his or her potential to the benefit of all in the community.

© Independent Catholic News 2006

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