We all benefit from being educated about Catholic schools
This week's SCO editorial.
Catholic schools in Scotland are a shining beacon of Faith formation, citizenship and hard work leading to academic excellence. As Cardinal Keith O’Brien said this week at the launch of the new national religious education syllabus, our RE programme is the ‘the envy of non-denominational schools.’
Michael McGrath, director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, knows Catholic education in our country is founded on a partnership between Church and state. First Minister Alex Salmond said: “When I meet children from Catholic schools I am most impressed with the obvious pride that they have in their faith and the ethos of their school.”
But more than that, Mr McGrath believes the This is Our Faith guidelines—recognised and blessed by Pope Benedict XVI—that now govern Catholic religious education in Scotland will further forge links in the vital partnership between home, school and parish that we hold dear and which plays a key role in Faith formation.
Bishop Joseph Devine, president of the Catholic Education Commission, believes that the national syllabus will ‘help young people to become closer to God,’ answering the Holy Father’s 2010 Papal visit call for them to become ‘saints of the 21st century.’ Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow acknowledged the ‘intelligence, wisdom and experience’ teachers will use to open up the syllabus to young people.
Indeed Catholic educators have a great deal to be proud of this week. The Papal blessing and endorsement of the newly launched RE syllabus from pupils in primary one through to third year in secondary school comes as a Scottish Catholic primary school teacher is named top of the class. Scottish Teacher of the Year Christine Emmett, who has been teaching at St Elizabeth’s Primary School, Hamilton, for 27 years, has beaten 20,000 other entrants to scoop the UK Teacher of the Year title.
However, in spite of these ringing endorsements of Catholic education, there are still those bent on arguing that Catholic schools cause or contribute to the problem of sectarianism in Scotland. While even all evidence to the contrary will not persuade those who have pre-judged and are entrenched, for example, in current debates around bigotry and football, perhaps this week is the ideal opportunity to reach out to those who will listen to reason. Be informed and generous when talking to the young parents who worry that choosing a Catholic school for their newborn is not ‘politically correct.’ Don’t dismiss the teenager whose own educational experience was lacking and who sounds off on Catholic education as part of the course.
Catholic schools do make a positive difference. Think of what was good about your own Catholic education and you will find it thriving in Scottish Catholic schools today.
Pic: Paul McSherry
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My own catholic primary education was very sound, it was a positive , warm place to be. Sadly my secondary catholic education was so poor, that reading the above article was nearly laughable.
Unless there has been a complete overhaul on the religious education (if you can call it that) at secondary level, then i think perhaps the SCO would benefit from some basic investigative journalism into teenagers actual experience today. My experience was in edinburgh, the lack of scrunity of what was going on, looking back on it, was really dreadful.
That is not to say i didn’t have superb teachers, because in the main they were. However, religious education, don’t make me laugh.