.... It seems high time for the British government to re-think its financial support for religious communities, before extremist networks become more deeply embedded in other public institutions.
Some commentators have made the reasonable argument that the government should leave religion out of the state-school system entirely. It is clear that a public education system that fails to maintain the separation of church and state offers little, but risks a lot.
The Church of England and the Jewish community, however, would vigorously protest such a proposal. One third of state-funded schools in England, in fact "are legally designated with a religious character."
The most immediate solution, perhaps, is reform to school governance. The Trojan Horse plot demonstrated that extremist groups face few obstacles when appointing school governors, employing teachers with extremist links, or enforcing and teaching hard-line Islamic values. [Gatestone Institute] Read more
