December 6.
By its nature, Words with Wark is for participants a race on
pogo-sticks; the defined territory is pock-marked rather than explored.
Of necessity editing is an agreed, if not an agreeable, feature.
Near the beginning of the filming (December 5) a statement was made
but edited out which, for the sake of completeness, might have
complemented the transmission of the section relating to education.
It ran along these lines: ''The natural educators of children are
parents. With the complexities of education most parents relinquish part
of their responsibility to teachers but retain some through parental
choice. The right of parental choice is widely recognised, eg by UNO and
the European Union.''
In England, despite the stushie over the recent decision by Tony Blair
and his wife to apply for a secondary school place for their son, three
aspects of their case were accepted without challenge: the right of the
Blairs to exercise parental choice, the right to choose a denominational
school, and the right for that denominational school to be publicly
funded since it is part of the national system.
In Scotland the law recognises four traditions within our public
school system. These are: non-denominational, Roman Catholic,
Episcopalian, and Jewish.
The benefits to be derived from this pluralist system are several: it
enhances democracy by recognising minority interests; it provides for
choice, promotes diversity, and so enriches the nation; and it
facilitates healthy comparison between schools of different traditions.
Finally I publicly acknowledge the warm welcome, the informality, and
the courtesy of Ms Wark and her colleagues.
William Docherty,
Movement for Christian
Democracy,
22 Inveresk Place,
Coatbridge.
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