' Sikhs consider baptising daughter to gain place for her at Catholic primary

BY SIMON CALDWELL
THE PARESIS of a Sikh girl are to baptise their daughter in the hope that they might secure a place for her at a Catholic primary school.
Balit and Bal Singh have been sending their four-yearold daughter Maya Kaur to the nursery of St Paul's Catholic Primal), School in Wolviston, near Billingham, Teeside. for the past two years.
They hoped she would gain a place at the primary when she starts full-time education this autumn but have been told that she does not qualify because the limited number of places.
This year 34 pupils are vying for 30 places which will be allocated as a priority to practising Catholic pupils who live in the catchment area or who have a sibling at the school, and then to other local non-Catholic Christians before pupils of other religions. The family, from Wynyard, near Stockton, lost an appeal, and Mr Singh has now said he plans to baptise the child and raise her as a Catholic.
"We think Sikhism is similar to Roman Catholicism so we put her in that school," Mr Singh told the Daily Mail. "She's been there for two years, she goes to church with them, she says a prayer before she eats her dinner. baptise her as Roman Catholic so she can go to the school."
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion which takes part of its identity from ancestors who were martyred for refusing to convert to other faiths. Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth of the founding gurus of Sikhism was beheaded in 1675 by the Mughal emperorAurangzeb for refusing to convert to Islam.
Maya has been offered a place at William Cassidi School, a nearby Church of England school. But her parents claim she is upset and wants to remain with her friends.
Catherine Connelly, head at St Paul's, said: "We are proud of our school's inclusive nature and we have children of several different faiths and ethnic groups. We allocated the places according to our published admissions criteria which all parents had access to."
The Diocese of Hexharn and Newcastle, which oversees admissions policy at the school, said it was following correct procedures.
But Mr Singh said: "At the moment she has not got a religion. She follows Sikhism because we are Sikhs. But we should learn about all different religions. I would have changed her religion from day one if they had asked us.
"It would have been no different for the religion, it is just I'm happy if my child is happy at school, and she likes the way it is nut and I am happy with the way she is progressing with her work.That is one of the reasons I do not want her to move to another school."
A diocesan spokesman told the BBC it welcomed adults who wanted to become followers of Christ's teachings. but that children were "another matter". He said only parents who are themselves Catholic Christians could make such a commitment for their child.
Jagtar Singh, the vice chairman of the UK Sikh Federation. said children should be allowed to choose their own religion when they were old enough. He said Sikhism did not prohibit conversion.
He said: 'When a child is born the parents try to bring up that child on the basis of what they think is best. So if they practise any particular faith they are likely to bring that child up in that faith, knowing the child will make their own decisions when they grow up."