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22 February 2016

Parents - take control of your children's education with our new resource

The state should not have the final word on decisions about how children are educated; parents should.

The Alliance has called on the Church to do far more to help parents as they engage with their children's schools.

Christian parents are facing an often bewildering range of options and challenges in the education system, and with the state increasingly seeking to determine the content of the curriculum, they need back-up. It is vital that the Church is more practically supportive of Christian parents.

You're not alone: a guide for the Christian family in education has been launched today to help parents take a more active role in the education of their children, and encourage churches to support those parents. 

The resource, together with an accompanying website, seeks to inform Christian parents of their rights and responsibilities in education, and it challenges the idea that the state should have the final word on decisions about how children are educated. The Evangelical Alliance is committed to helping parents know more about how their children are schooled, enabling Christian parents to become more involved in making positive contributions to the life of the school, and to seeing churches offer more practical support. 

Dr David Landrum, director of advocacy at the Evangelical Alliance and author of the report, commented on its launch: "It's important to remember that the state is only there to maintain our school system. As the tax-paying funders of education, it is parents who are primarily responsible for the way that children are educated. We hope that this resource will inspire parents, families, churches and local communities to see how they can take a fuller role in education, and to support the work of teachers and schools.

"Too often Christian parents have felt alone when trying to navigate the education system. We want to see parents better informed about what's going on but also far better supported by the wider Church around them, so that their children are raised in schools that respect their faith values. We want them to know that they are not alone."

The resource sets out information about the education system and the rights and responsibilities of parents in different areas, as well as many opportunities to get more involved for the benefit of the whole school community.

Dr Landrum added: "Sometimes parents stand back from getting more involved in their children's schools, and they don't realise how much they have to offer. Whether it's through volunteering in the classroom, serving as a school governor, or even setting up a new free school, there are huge opportunities for families to make a vital contribution."

Visit the website here. If you would like to order copies please email info@eauk.org.