A debate has begun in India and in England about religious education.
State schools in India do not teach any religion due to the fear of imposing the teaching of one religion on all pupils. The rise of Islamic and Hindu extremism and violent attacks by such extremists has outraged the majority who are suspicious about any religion being promoted.
For nearly 200 years church/Christian schools in India taught Christian Scripture as a subject of study for all students. After Independence in 1947 many Christian schools began to abandon teaching Scripture or offered it only to Christian pupils. Some were able to ensure Scripture teaching for all students by asking non-Christian parents to agree in writing that they had no objection to the practice of the school. It was also a condition for school admission. Non-Christian parents eager to have their children educated in such Christian schools had no other option and hardly any parent contested it legally.
