[LST] Re: Unpicking the philosophy of faith schools - Telegraph

this article focuses mainly on Britain, but it can quite easily be applied to India as well. however, i feel that sometimes, cultural schools (as long as they're not radical) may be best for the overall development of a kid from a minority.

case in point -
 i went to a school which was primarily Hindu in its origins (we did the whatever Sanskrit prayers in the morning, and were told to follow 'dharma' - i have no idea what it means) though obviously, said in its prospectus (is 'manifesto' a better word, though?) that it was secular and believed in equality and whatnot. well, the teachers were pretty much okay with that, though the students? not so much. the few Muslim students in my class were forever ribbed about their religion (one of the favourite insults in fights and arguments being 'aey Musalman, Pakistani!!'), and i recall some so-called friends of one of them teasing him about not eating during ramzan. most of the times, the Muslim students were a tight - knit group, and Christian/Buddhist students were a rarity.

so, the point is, i don't disagree with prof. sen, but i do feel that before integrating students if multiple cultures, you should make sure that they'll be able to fare well in their contemporaries. also, what about giving the students themselves the choice? maybe, higher education should be unified, but a lot of thinking should be done before scrapping all faith schools.