Atheists could set up their own schools in England under the government's education reforms, Education Secretary Michael Gove has said. Answering questions from MPs on the Commons education select committee on Wednesday, Mr Gove said: "One of the most striking things that I read recently was a thought from Richard Dawkins that he might want to take advantage of our education legislation to open a new school, which was set up on an explicitly atheist basis. "It wouldn't be my choice of school, but the whole point about our education reforms is that they are, in the broad sense of the word, small "l", liberal, that they exist to provide that greater degree of choice." Mr Gove, whose two children attend a church primary school, told the cross-party group of MPs that he "recognised that there are some people who explicitly do not want their children educated in a faith-based setting". FULL STORY |