English schoolgirl banned from taking the bus to school because she is not baptized

[Newswire]

A young British schoolgirl has been barred from taking an official bus to her Church of England school in the United Kingdom because she has not been baptized. The move brings a new dimension to an ongoing controversial debate about transport to faith based schools, as well as access to them.

More... (http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s06090032.htm)

[Arvel Joffi]

All the more reason not to go...

[Octavia]

Let me get this straight. This child can attend a Church of England school, despite the fact that she hasn't been baptised - but that same lack of baptism disqualifies her from taking the bus to said religious school?

[LambdaCalculator]

Let me get this straight. This child can attend a Church of England school, despite the fact that she hasn't been baptised - but that same lack of baptism disqualifies her from taking the bus to said religious school?

Absolutely. You see, you must keep in mind that the bus being ridden by the children is a Holy bus and cannot be contaminated by someone who hasn't had their head dunked into water by a blithering idiot in white robes.

We'll gladly take your tuition money, though. ;)

[Howay the Toon]

I'd like very much to see the other side of this and more details. I have something of a suspicion of this being journalistic bollocks.

[SectarianTurmoil]

The issue is that, while C of E 'faith' schools will admit children who aren't baptised, it's the local council who have to pay to transport the children to school.

They want to cut costs, so in this case they have a rule that they'll only provide free transport for genuine adherents of the 'faith' the school is run by.

I don't think any children should be transported to religious schools at public expense, so this is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned.

[Dean Anderson]

This does seem to be heavily spun.

The actual policy is that if you go to a Faith-Based school that is further away from your home than nearby secular schools are for religious reasons, then you can get assistance in getting there.

In this case, the girl is wanting to go to the Faith-Based school not for religious reasons, but merely because she (or her parents) think it is a better school. The Local Education Authority is saying that she is fine doing that, but if she wants to go there instead of a more local school then she will have to make her own way there. They will not give her special help.

Now you may criticise this policy, and say (as I would) that pupils travelling for religious reasons shouldn't get special help either - but the actual situation is a far cry from the distorted way that the news report characterises the situation.