ATTEMPTS to force through the introduction of faith schools could prove a recipe for disaster, according to a North-East MP.
Ashok Kumar, who represents Middlesbrough South and east Cleveland, used a House of Commons debate to warn education ministers that introducing faith schools could increase risks of religious discrimination and widening divisions in a multi-cultural society.
Dr Kumar believes that attempts to set up separate religious schools - whether they come from wealthy Christian fundamentalist sects or from other religions - are deeply divisive.
He said: "Such schools teach the supremacy of their own religious belief to the exclusion of an objective examination of other faiths.
"This can only serve to reinforce the cultural and political divisions that we unfortunately now see on the streets of many of our cities.
"The key issue to me is the need to see that all schools, whether state schools or religious schools, teach religion on a purely comparative basis, thus allowing pupils to make informed judgements about differing religious faiths and doctrines."
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