WE Al Austin Friars School, Carlisle. have a contribution to make

to the education scene i•ri I hus country. This consists essentially in working as a community in a school and building a school community around our religious community.
So, for us to disband our community effort and w go into schools as individuals is to miss the whole point of what we want to do in education.
We do not say our schools are better than others but they are distinctive.
The distressing development in education.in recent years is that any school with distinctive characteristics is being squeezed out or the "an-important" system.
The aim of the education administrator should be to enable all the children of the countryto have the best opportunity for schooling possible. But equality of opportunity is not the same as uniformity. To give each child the best opportunity possible does not mean that the% all have to be the same.
The Catholic population benefited from the reorganisation that brought comprehensive schools into heing. In many areas, the standard of schooling ovalable to those who would not huve been grammar-graded, has been very much improved.
Much has been gained. Something has zdso been lost, but it is futile now to engage in recriminations. Many religious communities have either been I'orced out of education altogether or have had their schools shunted into a siding on [side the mainstream of Catholic education. I am conceited enough to believe that this Is a loss.
(Rev) Bernard O'Connor OSA The Prior Austin Friars School BAN US makes an excellent point. Oct. when he says, speaking of the efficiency of Catholic Education:"There are even those who believe that this could be better achieved — supreme irony of ail — if there vvere no 'Catholic* schools at all If this criticism is applied to Catholic Secondary schools, it
wkluid appear to be true. Little research has actually gone into the subject — but such as has been done (Anthony Spencer — Cavendish Square College) suggests that practising 'adult' Catholics are more likely to come from non-Catholic Seeondary Schools.
Any necessary formal education could come from the clergy or catechists out of sehool hours. Otherwise. religious education must conic from the home. After all, in the penal days, when the Faith was kept alive against all odds, there were no Catholic schools.
Perhaps. too. we should be thin king more in line with Vatican H. AP Catholics are evangelists. Wh.y, then, should many of our teachers and young people be cut off from their non-Catholic peers? Why keep the Good News to ourselves? Millions are longing to know about the Catholic Church — young people included.
.1-he challenge lies before us. Sell our secondary schools. Give the proceeds to CA FOD. Go into the world and preach the Gospel. Armed with the Truth and the
Holy Spirit — what are we afraid Mrs Jean Grimes ESseit