Christian School

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A Christian School is a school run on Christian principles or by a Christian organization.

The nature of Christian Schools varies enormously from country to country according to the religious and educational culture.

Historically in Europe many schools were founded as religious as well as educational establishments. Religious instruction was considered a normal part of education.

1 United States
2 Canada
3 United Kingdom
4 Australia
5 The Netherlands
6 Africa
7 Associations
8 References
9 External links
10 See also

[edit] United States

In the United States, religion is generally not taught by the state-funded educational system, under the principle of separation of church and state (though schools must allow students wanting to study religion to do so as an extracurricular activity, as they would any other such activity).

Over 4 million students, about 1 child in 12, attend religious schools, most of them Christian [1].

There is great variety in the educational and religious philosophies of these schools, as might be expected from the large number of religious denominations in the United States. However, many conservative Protestants reserve the term "Christian school" only for schools affiliated with conservative Protestant denominations, excluding Catholic schools in particular.^[1]

Christian schools are privately run, often in conjunction with a church or a denomination. Parents who want their children taught according to their church's principles can choose to send their children to such schools, but unless the school is subsidized by their church, or is part of a school choice or education voucher program funded by the government, they must pay tuition. Some American Christian schools are large and well-funded, while others are small and rely on volunteers from the community. Some Christian schools, especially those sponsored by fundamentalist churches, will not accept government funding, believing that acceptance of funding would allow the government to dictate their school (and potentially their church) operations.

The Catholic church operates about 8,500 schools, often called parochial schools, and enrolls about 2.7 million students.[2] Most are administered by individual dioceses and parishes. The Orthodox church also operates Christian schools.

The largest association of Protestant Christian schools in the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). ACSI serves 5,300 member schools in approximately 100 countries with an enrollment of nearly 1.2 million students.

Another, smaller, association of Protestant Christian schools is Christian Schools International (CSI), with approximately 500 schools and 100,000 students.[3]

Although several publishers compete for sales of textbooks to the homeschool market, the market is dominated by two major players, A Beka Books and Bob Jones University Press.

One movement among Christian schools in the US is the return to the traditional subjects and form of education known as classical education. This growing movement is known as the Classical Christian School movement, represented by the Association of Classical & Christian Schools, with 70 schools and 8700 students.

[edit] Canada

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Unlike the US, in Canada public funding of religious education is not only permitted, it is sometimes required.

Historically, schools in Canada were run by private, Christian organizations, either Protestant or Catholic. As the concept of public education developed, he faith of the majority of the community was represented by the public school, and the minority faith (usually Catholic) was represented by a "separate" school. Initially, both of these schools retained their religious basis. However, over time, the public schools became increasingly secularized as Canadian society became increasingly pluralistic.

The historical pattern has been incorporated into the Canadian constitution and the organizing documents of various provinces so that presently those of the minority faith, typically Catholic, can have their children educated in Catholic schools, and to have such education paid for by the state. Such provinces therefore have at least two major parallel school boards, one for Catholic education (known as Separate Catholic) and one for Public (or secular) education. In some cases there may also be Separate Protestant school boards. The combination of this right and the right of linguistic minority education means, in some provinces, like Alberta and Ontario, there can be at least four school boards operating in parallel, in the same location (e.g. English-Public, French-Public, English-Separate, French-Separate). Some provinces have moved away from this, obtaining constitutional amendements to allow them to organize strictly on linguistic lines, without a Separate system for any religious group.

Many non-Catholics, send their children to Separate Catholic schools, preferring the values and standards, despite not supporting the Catholic faith. Typically, such students are exempt from specific religious instruction classes, but Catholic values are still represented to them in all subjects and aspects of such schools.

Private Christian schools on the American model, usually run by Protestant denominations, also exist throughout Canada. Like private American Christian schools, these private schools normally charge tuition. Often, these schools (directly or indirectly) will receive some provincial grant money, though generally far less than a government run school. Each province is free to decide what if any funding they give to private religious schools.

While Public (as opposed to Separate) Canadian school districts in Canada, normally have no religious affiliation in modern times, they may still accommodate religious instruction for Christians within their community. They may do this by creating an individual special purpose Christian school, or they may offer religious instruction within an otherwise secular school. Indeed, this practice has become so prevalent in Alberta that many private, Christian schools have been absorbed by their local public districts as "alternative Christian programs" within the public system. As such they are presently permitted to retain their philosophy, curriculum, and staffing while operating as fully funded public schools. In this regard they have achieved some equality with Catholic schools.

See also: separate schools

[edit] United Kingdom

The Church of England was historically a provider of many schools throughout the UK. Such schools (called 'Church of England schools') were partially absorbed into the state education system, with the church retaining an influence on the schools in return for its support in funding and staffing. Such schools are required to accept pupils regardless of religious background, though if they are oversubscribed they can, and often do, give preference to applicants of the relevant faith. The curriculum taught is virtually identical to that taught in state funded schools.

Because of the availability of church-run schools and the tolerance for religious activity in state schools, private Christian schools are a relative rarity.

[edit] Australia

Church schools were established in Australia by both Roman Catholic and Protestant churches during the 19th century. Many of these schools, often with long traditions, continue to form the bulk of the private or independent school sector in Australia.

The modern Protestant Christian school movement began in Australia through the efforts of Dutch migrants who had enjoyed Christian schools for many decades in their home country. Most belonged to the Reformed Churches of Australia (now Christian Reformed Churches of Australia, and sometimes incorrectly called the Dutch Reformed Church, which is a name only correctly used of South African Reformed churches). During the 1950s these migrants founded associations of parents who wanted to start Christian schools, and the first schools opened, at first without any government assistance, in the early 1960s. The first schools were affiliated with a national body known at that time as the National Union of Christian Parent-Controlled Schools, which later became Christian Parent Controlled Schools Ltd. (CPCS)

This first model of Australian Christian school was operated not by churches, but by associations of parents who individually belonged to churches but worked collectively for their common aim. These schools were established not because of innate dissatisfaction with government schools, but because these parents wanted schools which would actively integrate their Christian faith into the whole school curriculum. Because these schools were operated by parent bodies, people from churches other than the Reformed Churches were welcomed and able to join the work of these schools.

From the late 1970s, Christians from many other churches became increasingly concerned about standards and social change in government schools and started establishing Christian schools to provide an alternative education option. In this phase, many such schools were commenced not by parent associations but by churches themselves, although uniquely in Western Australia several parent groups from outside the Reformed Churches studied and adopted the parent-controlled model and have commenced schools which, while they have no Dutch or Reformed Church connections, have still affiliated themselves nationally with many schools which do.

In 2006 the leading umbrella organizations include Christian Schools Australia, Christian Parent Controlled Schools Ltd. and the Australian Association of Christian Schools.

[edit] The Netherlands

In the Netherlands the question whether or not public schools should be Christian and in what way was subject of much debate between 1806 and 1917. During the second half of the 19th century this "School-struggle" reached its summit and dominated politics along with voting rights and the district system. In 1917 most of these 3 matters were resolved by the Pacification of 1917. From now on both confessional (religious) and public schools would get equal funding.

In the second half of 2006 there are 6318 Christian schools in the Netherlands; 4955 primary schools, 1054 high schools and 309 colleges and universities.

[edit] Africa

In many parts of Africa Christian missionary organisations have founded schools, often in places where no other schooling is available. Such schools generally provide a complete education in a Christian context.