By definition faith schools are exclusive; their teachings are skewed to whatever belief the people running it adhere too. This is particularly insidious as it's indoctrinating children into a belief system that automatically assumes it's right and everyone else is wrong, full stop. If that doesn't set the stage for intolerance I don't know what does. Do you really think it's OK to skew a child's view by labelling them a 'catholic', 'muslim' or 'protestant' when they're too young to decide for themselves? Is it really OK to tell a child the rest of the world is wrong and we're the chosen few? Doesn't that colour an individual's thinking for the rest of their life.

In the North of Ireland faith schools have done sod all but exacerbate and promote the persistence of the evil of sectarianism. I was lucky in that I went to a state comprehensive with a real mix, and learnt more about my mates religious traditions b talking to them and going around their houses for tea than ever I did in R.E.

Faith schools are an abomination, as the only way for us as a society to all get along is if we mix and exchange ideas freely, and aren't told 'only we are right' by someone whose experienced divine revelation. Integration is the key, and nurturing a child's natural inquisitiveness and curiosity about the world should be done without the constraints placed upon it by any religious dogma.

It's like the enlightenment never happened sometimes.