In response to the White Papers on Education and Skills 2005 recently drafted by the British government, churches and other faith communities have criticised the proposal for neglecting the moral and spiritual needs of young people taking vocational courses in further-education colleges.

Anglican, Methodist and Free Church education bodies, together with the interfaith organisation - Faiths in Further Education (FE) Forum and its parent body NEAFE (National Ecumenical Agency in FE), have issued a joint statement to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Ruth Kelly, last week. In the statement great concern was expressed over some proposals in the Skills and 14–19 White Papers in particular.

It is said to be the first interfaith comment of its kind, according to the Church Times.

The statement demands, "All 16-19 institutions, both FE colleges and schools, should have an equal duty to provide for the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of all students."

"With 43 percent of young people in FE colleges, it smacks of residual class divisions for these (mainly vocational) students to continue to be excluded from such entitlement," it said.

It continues to explain the urgency of spiritual provision for the youngsters, saying that "not all families and neighbourhoods can yet demonstrate the capacity to support the development of a clear set of values."

While churches and faith communities appreciated the government’s commitment to the breadth of study and core learning for all students, they challenge whether its proposal can truly achieve parity of esteem and quality between academic and vocational routes.

Especially for disadvantaged young people on vocational training, they expressed concern that an education with proper emphasis on spiritual values was needed to help them get back into the system as adults.

"We argue strongly that challenge and stretch are important for vocational as well as academic A level learners," says the statement. "If all learners are to be treated as whole people and to contribute to society to their full potential, vocational students need opportunities to grapple with the wider, ethical and cultural, implications of their chosen fields of employment."

The statement addresses how spiritual values will help students in their real workplaces. "Moral, social, and environmental concerns are all important, as are values and ethics, especially in business and media areas. Cultural and faith implications are important in some sectors (such as food, leisure and services) and should be addressed by all students in a multi-faith society."

The statement accuses the government of only concentrating on the spiritual and ethical development of "just the academic A level few", but not the vocational students.

"Vocationally-orientated students are as interested in issues of religion and ethics, as concerned about moral values, and as cynical about the vapid and superficial diet they are offered by the commercialised (and often sexualised and trivialised) media world, as academically orientated students."

"All learners should have an entitlement to core learning involving community activities, including encounters with social action, faith groups and voluntary work," the statement concludes.

According to the Church of England Newspaper, Dr Fatma Amer, the Chair of the Faiths in FE Forum, has called for more provision for multi-faith chaplaincies in education institutions.

"At present, the need for full-time chaplains who are employed on contractual basis and regularly paid is paramount. A stumbling block in this regard is the issue of appropriate funding. A pitiful situation in many colleges (and universities as well) is that chaplains are either paid per session, or occasional visitors."