More Roman Catholic schools may soon open in the United Kingdom after Prime Minister Theresa May's new government decided to lift a ban that prevented churches from opening new educational institutions.
Quoting an unnamed government source, The Catholic Herald reported that May's administration is of the position that the prohibition on new Church-run schools did not succeed in its objective of making faith schools more diverse.
"It has prevented new Catholic schools from opening, which are more successful, more popular and more ethnically diverse than other types of state school," the source said.
The source added that the U.K. government thinks allowing more Catholic schools in the European nation will help children integrate with society.
"We're going to change the rule, so we can allow new Catholic schools to open, while making faith schools of all kinds do more to make sure their pupils integrate with children of other backgrounds," the source said.
The Catholic Education Service welcomed the U.K./ government's move to relax restrictions on Catholic educational institutions.
"This will enable the Catholic Church to meet the current parental demand for thousands of new Catholic school places across the country," the group said, as quoted by The Catholic Herald.
Paul Goodman, executive editor of ConservativeHome, said the British prime minister's decision corrected a "burning injustice" against Catholic schools.
He said the restrictions were imposed because officials were "terrified of the electoral consequences of allowing more or larger Muslim schools."
But he said the policy had failed to make Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu schools more diverse because these schools were unlikely to appeal to parents of other faiths.
He said the rule was "effectively discriminatory" for Catholics.
Last week, May told members of Parliament who are members of her Conservative Party that she wanted "an element of selection" in the education system.
The ruling party's manifesto last year promised to "allow all good schools to expand, whether they are maintained schools, academies, faith schools or grammar schools."
