Proposal for an English Baccalaureate and RE
Senior religious-education (RE) professionals are warning that their subject could disappear from the curriculum in community schools if the subject is not included among the humanities that qualify for the planned English Baccalaureate. The new qualification, which is to be introduced to ensure that pupils receive a more rounded education requires good passes in English, maths, science, a foreign language, and either history or geography. Religious studies (RS), currently a popular examination choice, is not included as a humanities option. Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, which represents secondaryschool heads, says that his members believe that the proposed Baccalaureate is too narrow: ‘Religious studies, in particular, is glaringly absent. In the light of the global political situation, surely the objective study of religious issues should be encouraged,’ he said. A recent poll among 18 to 25-year-olds revealed that RE lessons were remembered as valuable for several years after leaving school.
Pray: that Christian teaching remains as a required element of schools’ curricula. (Ro.16:17)
Russia: Airport bombing
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church addressed growing ethnic tensions in Russia after a suicide bomber killed 35 people and injured over 150 at Moscow’s busiest Airport. He denounced the attack as ‘the horrifying scowl of sin’ adding ‘actions once condemned even in war are today becoming a form of protest.’ No one has claimed responsibility but previous terrorist attacks in Russia originated from separatist movements in the troubled Northern Caucasus region. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, backed by the Kremlin, has been accused of human rights abuses and crushing Islamic militants, while supporting his own form of Islamic fundamentalism. Ethnic tensions have grown in Moscow recently, including anger over plans to build a new mosque in a south-eastern district of the city. Muslim migrants from the Caucasus and Central Asia have emigrated to the Russian capital, fleeing wars in their home regions since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Pray: for the turmoil in Russia to usher in a timely Christian revival. (Is.14:26-27)
More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/25/russian-patriarch-denounc_n_814025.html
Russia: Airport bombing
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church addressed growing ethnic tensions in Russia after a suicide bomber killed 35 people and injured over 150 at Moscow’s busiest Airport. He denounced the attack as ‘the horrifying scowl of sin’ adding ‘actions once condemned even in war are today becoming a form of protest.’ No one has claimed responsibility but previous terrorist attacks in Russia originated from separatist movements in the troubled Northern Caucasus region. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, backed by the Kremlin, has been accused of human rights abuses and crushing Islamic militants, while supporting his own form of Islamic fundamentalism. Ethnic tensions have grown in Moscow recently, including anger over plans to build a new mosque in a south-eastern district of the city. Muslim migrants from the Caucasus and Central Asia have emigrated to the Russian capital, fleeing wars in their home regions since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Pray: for the turmoil in Russia to usher in a timely Christian revival. (Is.14:26-27)
More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/25/russian-patriarch-denounc_n_814025.html
Belgium: Thousands demand politicians form a government
Tens of thousands of Belgians took to the streets on Sunday to shame political leaders who have failed to form a government more than seven months after an election and left the country at the mercy of financial markets. Organisers of the ‘Shame: no government, great country’ protest said up to 50,000 people had joined the march through the capital Brussels. Police put the figure at 34,000. Since the inconclusive June 2010 parliamentary vote, a caretaker administration has run the country while Dutch and French-speaking party leaders have argued over the degree to which powers and tax-raising rights should be transferred to regions of the linguistically divided country. ‘We are here because we want to show the political leaders that things must change. It's the politicians who are trying to split the country'.
Pray: that the government would listen to the people and work through their differences together. (Ep.4:2-4)
