Debate over faith-based schools

CHANTAL ABITBOL

A DISCUSSION paper by a leading sociologist suggesting the spike of faith-based schools in Australia is undermining social cohesion has sparked debate in the community. Sydney’s University of Technology Professor Andrew Jakubowicz said public schools historically have provided an environment for students of different backgrounds to socially interact -— “bridging between communities”.

But in a paper presented at a teachers’ conference this week, he argued the surge of ethno-religious schools in the past decade -— driven by generous federal Government funding -— had negatively influenced that exchange and led to a “general erosion of society’s capacity to operate as a multicultural society”.

Prof Jakubowicz, who happens to be Jewish, stressed he wasn’t taking aim at ethno-religious schools. However, he believed it was time for the government to hone up and take responsibility for the consequences of its policies.

The aim of the report was “to stimulate debate about how that issue is going to be handled”, he told The AJN.

“That doesn’t mean the only solution is to withdraw funding from ethno-religious schools, but it might mean that there has to be much more priority given to ensuring that kids from different backgrounds spend a lot more time engaging with each other than the occasional engagement.”

But not everyone agrees. Nechama Bendet, co-chair of the Australian Council of Jewish Schools, said Prof Jakubowicz’s comments were a “generalisation”.

“A [public] education is no guarantee of either tolerance or respect. The fact is that some parts of the public school system are rife with racism and the bullying of minorities,” she said, adding that government funding of religious schools comes “with strict requirements on the teaching of studies in religion, tolerance, civics, and the like”.

“The Jewish schools, in particular, and faith-based schools more generally, have produced and continue to produce students who are more than comfortable in different cultural environments and have been recognised as such by Australians generally.”

Sydney’s Masada College principal Wendy Barel added: “I disagree that we’re undermining social cohesion. If anything, we’re adding to it by making a conscious effort to educate the students on the different faiths.”

Prof Jakubowicz emphasised that the practice of directing funds may undermine three key factors of social cohesion and modern citizenship — intercultural competence, secularism as a core social value, and interactive lifelong learning.