Schools must accommodate all beliefs

THE EDITOR, Sir:

SCHOOL IS for education and not for indoctrination of any form. I am particularly disturbed by a quote attributed to Nadine Molloy, principal of Ardenne High, in her response to a parent who questioned the whole devotion issue. According to Ms Molloy, she stated, ‘You know that Ardenne is operated by the Church of God in Jamaica. You know that there is going to be devotion. Why opt to send your child to Ardenne when you know what is going to take place at Ardenne?’

She said that she never heard back from the parent. It is in light of that, and other issues, that I remind Ms Molloy, that, yes, Ardenne is operated by the Church of God in Jamaica, but what she fails to also acknowledge is that Ardenne is also funded by the taxpayers of Jamaica. That gives the parent the right to select Ardenne as a school of choice.

Public institutions should be secular spaces, and no student should be forced to go against his belief systems. It’s not just about students who might be Pentecostals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventhday Adventists, or Church of God. It is also about those who might also be Rastafarians, Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists.

Therefore, the ecumenical approach the minister is suggesting won’t work. There needs to be a more inclusive approach to accommodate all religions, denominations, and beliefs. Forcing students to stand and listen, although it is against their persuasion, is not an approach. It is a violation of their human rights. And allowing non-believers to roam the school compound unsupervised while others engage in the morning crusade is a grave safety concern for those students.

There has to be a way to accommodate all students in an inclusive, non-discrimnatory way. Policymakers and leaders need to stop viewing Jamaicans as monolithic because we are not. RALSTON CHAMBERLAIN, M. Ed, B.A., (Hons.), Dip. Ed., OCT Toronto, Ontario