Sir, – Patsy McGarry reports on a call by Dr Ali Selim to reform radically the Irish education system to cater for those of other faiths, in particular the growing number of Islamic children in Ireland ("Call for State schools to accommodate Islamic beliefs", September 3rd). Dr Selim is correct in saying that the current state of exclusion is unacceptable, unfair and completely hypocritical given our alleged commitment to human rights. Section 15 of the 1998 Education Act should be considered an affront by any decent, fair-minded person.
Where Dr Selim is wrong, however, is in seeking that further accommodations be made for religious beliefs in our education system. The only logical answer I can see to this issue is the removal of section 15 and the secularisation of the education system.
It is incumbent upon our State to educate our children about the world. If parents wish to educate their children about non-secular issues of faith then they should do so, by all means. But they should not be afforded the chance to do so at the expense or exclusion of other children. – Yours, etc,
JAMES SCULLY-LANE,
King Street North,
Smithfield,
Dublin 7.
Sir,– Dr Ali Selim, in his usual measured and erudite way, has done much over the years to explain Islam to an uncomprehending and sometimes unsympathetic public. However, his views on the Irish education system, and the role of religions in it, will surely foment many mental tussles on whether in our search for an inclusive society we should allow ourselves to be dictated to by a religious minority.
Of course Muslims have rights and they, like every other faith group, should be accommodated educationally and compromises should be made. But only as far as is practicable. Dr Salim’s agonising about communal changing rooms, music and headscarf prohibition at PE brings us back many decades to the episcopal strictures on “mixed bathing”, “company keeping” and the McQuaid Trinity ban. He is unaware, perhaps, that Islam, like any other religion, has an obligation to adjust to, although not necessarily agree with, the society in which it lives.
This is not to deny, of course, the need for reform of the role of religions in our schools. – Yours, etc,
PAUL MURRAY,
Templeville Drive,
Templeogue, Dublin 6W.
Sir, – Far from being a “revolution of inclusivity”, most of the changes proposed by Dr Ali Selim to make State schools accommodate Islamic beliefs would serve as a step back into the well-worn path of dogmatic irrationality.
Dr Selim is undeniably justified in highlighting the discriminatory practice, in some schools, of giving preference to pupils of a certain religious persuasion.
Once a school receives State funding, it should lose the right to apply such criteria, on the grounds that it is a remnant of traditional inequality in a supposedly equal society.
However, he calls for discrimination of a different kind by proposing that girls be only allowed play when out of sight of boys, that all physical contact between boys and girls be forbidden, or that certain musical instruments be prohibited for fear their use would conflict with Islamic values.
From the article, it is unclear if Dr Selim is proposing that these measures be applied selectively for Islamic children in Irish schools, on a wider scale in schools with a high proportion of Islamic students, or across all schools.
Regardless of which option he envisions, none of them can be considered in State-run establishments.
In 2014, our schools should be run on principles guided by reason, rather than ancient texts. We can no more consider an Islamic version of physical education than we can a creationist version of science. School governance should be informed by compassion, equality, inclusivity and a spirit of inquiry.
None of these principles can be sacrificed in the desperate scramble for political correctness.
The Irish education system has never been freer from the clutches of dogmatic influence. We owe it to future generations to take this opportunity to iron out finally old prejudices and pointless divisions from our social fabric, rather than introducing new ones. – Yours, etc,
JOHN HOGAN,
Ballyneety,
Co Limerick.
Sir, – Perhaps Catholicism and Islam are not that different after all. Dr Ali Selim’s descriptions of some of Islam’s more prudish strictures have the distinct whiff of John Charles McQuaid about them. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN AHERN,
Meadow Copse,
Clonsilla, Dublin 15.
Sir, – Having read Dr Ali Selim’s medieval wishlist for Irish education, I would like to thank him sincerely for reminding us all why we need less religion, not more, in Irish schools. – Yours, etc,
PAUL WILLIAMS,
Circular Road,
Kilkee,
Co Clare.