Multiculturalism and education

May 4, 2026

I agree with almost everything that Jocelyn Chey says, except for one aspect of one sentence; the phrase, “Our urban schools are full of yellow and brown as well as white students…” It glosses over the main reason that multiculturalism is not working as it was intended.

When the High Court ruled in favour of the Catholic church in 1981, it opened the door for taxpayers to subsidise religious education, which meant that any religion (even Scientology) could set up schools to proselytise children. As a result, we are currently subsiding Christian, Jewish, and Muslim schools (among others) to teach children that they are ‘superior’, and that it is better for them to grow up amongst ’their own kind’ than to mix with ‘others’.

Not only is this the antithesis of the multicultural spirit, it is contrary to the spirit of our constitution, which calls for social cohesion. Indeed, I would say that it is creating a kind of silo-culturalism that leads to division and distrust.

Yes Jocelyn, multiculturalism is a good thing, and yes, a strong public education system can promote it, but our current education system is doing just the opposite.