Following quotes were taken from Akram Khan-Cheema’s paper titled, “Religious education within a plural society: one person’s views and values” in Teaching World Religions (A teacher’s Handbook produced by the SHAP Working Party on World Religions in Education), edited by Clive Erricker and et al, Oxford: Heinemann Educational, 1993.
“… Equally clear in my mind is the fact that it must remain an undeniable right of every child to expect the education system to affirm his or her linguistic and religious heritage. When the educator says it’s OK, it becomes legitimate, affirmed. When the school ignores it or errs by omission, it is telling the child that his or her faith and languages other than English are not important”. (P. 40)
“I have observed a fear of other religions amongst many who were raised in exclusivist religious traditions … I have observed a climate of openness to spirituality among a growing number of young people, and an openness to others. Isolation or separateness is a diminishing preference. What has been disheartening, however, is the fact that many professional colleagues do not appear to take religion, and particular those who are committed to a faith, seriously”. (P. 40)
“We must accept that for an enlightened multicultural future we cannot completely separate culture from religion. Some understanding of religions is absolutely vital if we are to seek to provide an appreciation of different cultures for our future generations”. (P. 42)
