This Saturday, Christian educators, pastors and parents will be coming together in Edinburgh for a one-day conference about Christians can positively influence education in an increasingly secular Scotland. 

Niel Deepnarain, founder of Unite for Education and conference organiser, speaks to Christian Today about why it is so important that Christians work together for Christ-centred education. 

CT: Your aim is to support Christ-centred education. What does that look like in practical terms? 

Niel: We want to help all Christian schools, and Christian education in general, to grow. We can talk about the challenges with things like culture and what’s happening in state schools and so on, but actually the hard work lies with the Church and getting the Church in Scotland to support and talk about education. 

There are some churches working with Christian schools, like The Tron Church in Glasgow which supports the Melville-Knox Christian school, and the Providence School in Stornoway, which is supported by the Free Church of Scotland. Other churches are getting involved in Christ-centred education initiatives like education hubs. These things are great but we also need to make Christians more aware in general of the importance of Christian education, especially in the society we live in today. 

It’s so hard to believe what’s happening in Scotland, and to know which schools are actually doing proper Christian worship anymore. There are a number of Christian organisations working in schools but it tends to be limited to giving talks on certain issues, rather than leading children in worship. So things are very hard right now. 

But if we train up the children now, then we can make a big difference for them. We really need to help the young people and plant the seeds of faith so that even if they go the wrong way for a time, those spiritual roots will bring them back to the right path. 

CT: What’s your main concern at the moment? 

Niel: Since founding Unite for Education a few years ago, I’ve discovered that so many schools in Scotland - both state and private - were started by churches or Christians, and God was in it. But things have changed so much and so quickly, and now there’s no God in the schools at all, even when it comes to assemblies. 

That’s why the theme of this conference is igniting passion and renewing purpose. We want to ignite that passion again for Christian education and to address the challenges and opportunities facing education today, strategise together, raise awareness of the different resources that are out there, and be encouraged by the Christians who are successfully entering into the school space and speaking to young people today. 

CT: It seems like rather than things getting better in Scotland, they continue to get worse. For example, at the moment there is a push in Scotland to give children the right to opt out of religious observance in schools, which comes across as another attack on any kind of Christian presence in schools. What are your thoughts on that? 

Niel: The climate is very hard at the moment, and this push around religious worship is indeed an attack on Christianity. But really, Christians are being attacked in so many ways. Furthermore, they are in the minority, so the few who do stand up and speak often get ridiculed or persecuted for doing so. That includes Christian children in the classroom if they openly question something that is being taught. It always seems like it is Christians who get attacked but not those of other faiths, even if they share the same views. 

CT: Has Labour’s private school VAT raid made things harder for Christian schools?

Niel: Yes, it has. We lost one of the largest Christian schools in Scotland because of that - Cedars in Greenock. They were being subsidised by the Church, but adding VAT onto their costs would still have had a massive impact because of the general financial pressures of running an independent Christian school, and the reality that not every parent can afford an increase in fees. Kilgraston, a Catholic girls’ school in Perthshire, was also forced to close, but secular schools have been affected too.

Thankfully, many of the other Christian schools that are still in operation are small enough to be below the VAT threshold - for now. However, if they grow, then they stand to be affected. It is sad for these types of smaller school because many of them are really trying to make a positive impact on the lives of children, and if they close, then the children themselves have to leave and go to new schools, which is not easy for them. 

CT: So the VAT change almost seems like a disincentive to grow? 

Niel: Yes, it is. 

CT: How can churches support Christian schools? 

Niel: There are all kinds of ways that churches can help them to grow and resource them. For example, I volunteer with a local Christian school once a week just helping out with whatever is needed. Christians can also support parents by helping them to find out what’s available because a lot of Christian parents don’t know what’s out there and that there are actually Christian schools that their children can go to, and so they end up just sending them to state schools. Many of these Christian schools offer bursaries, too, if there are financial barriers. 

Churches can also support home educators around areas like the law or by running homeschooling co-ops that allow homeschooled children to meet up with each other regularly. 

CT: Do you sense that homeschooling is growing in Scotland?

Niel: Yes I do. One parent contacted Unite for Education recently because their young children were in state school and were coming home and talking about the very graphic sex education that they were learning in class, but she didn’t know how to take her children out of state school. So we were able to help with that. 

She is not alone. There are actually many parents out there who aren’t happy with what’s going on in our schools these days. And I know of people moving to Scotland from overseas who chose homeschooling rather than putting their children into state schools because they had read online about what’s happening and were horrified. 

I was recently invited to speak to one homeschooling co-op in Falkirk and I was shocked to find that there were 70 children there! Their social skills were amazing, they were great friends with each other, there was a sense of community, and they were active in their local churches and doing amazing things there. So a lot of parents are choosing this option. 

CT: It is sad that educational standards have fallen in Scotland and teachers are even reporting an increase in classroom violence. 

Niel: Yes it is really sad, because Scotland used to be known for having one of the best education systems in the developed world and now it is declining so much. Violence in the classrooms is growing and it’s unbelievable to see how children are treating not only other children but also their teachers.  

One Catholic teacher contacted me and said they were being bullied by the kids and didn't know what to do about it. Teachers try to speak up but they can’t because the children have more say than the teachers, and even their parents come in and shout at the teachers. 

Kids nowadays seem to have more rights than the teachers, to the point where it’s not only children who are being bullied in school but the teachers too. And not surprisingly, many children don’t even want to go to school now.  

CT: What is your hope for the conference? 

Niel: Unite for Education stands for Christ-centred education in Scotland and next week is all about getting as many church leaders as possible, and all those concerned about the state of education in Scotland, to meet, network and strategise together. That includes people running Christian schools, Christian education initiatives, and homeschooling.  

There are good things happening but it will take time to bring about some kind of long-term positive change to this situation, and that is why it is so important that Christians try to have as much influence as possible in the education sector and state schools, and that we go in and try to help these kids now before it’s too late. 

For more information about the Unite for Education conference, click here