Modelling a Christ-Centred Education 

The big day arrives. Arms wriggled into crisp and somewhat scratchy new clothes, hair brushed into neat compliance and toes inched into shiny new shoes. The new bag is filled with a water bottle, pencil case and packed lunch (no nuts or sweets) and it’s time to go!
 
How many of us still remember our first day at school? It is probably etched indelibly in our memories. We may also recall our children’s or grandchildren’s first days at school. It has been a rite of passage in Britain for over a century and for the vast majority of parents the questions leading up to this are: “To which school should we apply?”  “Which has the best Ofsted rating?” “Which will most suit my child?”.

Scriptural instruction

It is assumed that by diligently finding the school that best fits our children we are doing our very best for them - and indeed we might be. However, how many take a step back and ask whether mainstream schooling is truly the best fit per se?
 
The Bible is very clear about our responsibility as parents to bring up our children in God’s ways. “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads” (Deut 6:6-8 NIV).

How many take a step back and ask whether mainstream schooling is truly the best fit per se?

This is expanded in the New Testament, with Jesus’ own invitation for children to come to Him and admonition for anyone or anything which would hinder them (Matt 19:14; 18:16). Could this include the pervasive teaching of a non-biblical worldview and of sexual ethics in direct opposition to Scripture, both within the curriculum and saturated into the media our children consume?  Paul urges us to “see that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” (Col 2:8).

Forgetting His ways

About twenty years ago I came across a tiny verse tucked away in the book of Judges which caused me to sit bolt upright and take note: “After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel.” (Judges 2:10). I sensed the warning but wondered how practically a whole generation, born of believing parents, could grow up to deny the lordship of Christ.
 
It is with a very heavy heart that I can now see with increasing clarity how this can indeed come about, as so many of the young adult children of our contemporaries are not currently walking with Jesus. We pray for these prodigals to come home, but also this must surely be a clarion call to all of us involved in raising up this next generation; we must learn from the mistakes of the present generation (I’m currently in my 50s) and act with urgency and determination to ensure the children of today are grounded and equipped to stand strong in the Lord in the days to come.
 
How then do we do this? The answer to this is multi-faceted¹, but our focus here is on education. Our children spend approximately thirty-three hours a week at school. In contrast they perhaps spend no more than a few hours a week at church and at children’s youth clubs.

Historical decline

In previous generations, even if mainstream teaching did not come from a wholly biblical worldview, the prevailing culture was sufficiently based in Judeo-Christian values to ensure that children were not totally immersed in these “hollow and deceptive philosophies”, and that with some extra Bible teaching at church and maybe a youth club, most of us could leave school with the faith handed down to us from our parents, intact. I remember it being at university that young people began to fall away.

Universities, too, were founded on the Bible, with the rationale that all other studies needed to be learned through the lens of Scripture.

Until the second half of the nineteenth century, education was mostly funded and delivered by the Church or other Christian individuals. Indeed, children were taught in order that they could study the Scriptures and learn their catechism. Universities, too, were founded on the Bible, with the rationale that all other studies needed to be learned through the lens of Scripture.
 
The Education Acts passed between 1870 and 1880 transferred the funding and responsibility of primary education to the State. Then, from the 1960s, Marxist critical theories, emerging from the infamous Frankfurt School, began to infiltrate both our teacher training colleges and our universities - and from there, all mainstream schools,  and now even nurseries, too. This gradual indoctrination of our children through education was part of the Marxist programme to destabilise Western democracy, along with the demolition of the family unit and the challenging of religion². Thus, we now have not only a society which is saturated with Marxist ideologies, but a school system as well.
 
Understanding this refutes the common misunderstanding that state education is neutral. It is clearly not. Neither are small Christian schools or Christian home education. The former is founded on secular humanism and critical theories, and the latter on the Bible. Thus, we can begin to see how this falling away of a generation could have happened.

Way forward

It is a hard call, though certainly not impossible, for our children to hold onto a Christian faith when it is systematically being dismantled for many hours at school.

What then is the answer? I believe we have to begin by facing and acknowledging the problem square on, and then by prayerfully exploring all the options available to us.

I believe we have to begin by facing and acknowledging the problem square on, and then by prayerfully exploring all the options available to us.

For many, home education or a small Christian school may seem completely unrealistic. Yet I know those who have managed this: single parents on low incomes, two parents working full time, parents juggling roles and many who have sacrificed a certain standard of living in order that their children could have a Christ-centered education.
 
Steve Beegoo, Head of Education at Christian Concern, states that they are seeing a rise in new Christian schools and education initiatives, as well as resourcing increasing numbers of home educators. His clarity of vision and enthusiasm is contagious, as he links the fulfilling of the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20) to the discipleship of our children. He is convinced that: “unless we model again what a Christ-centered education, and a Christ centered school can be, then the revival needed to reverse the slide towards the secularism and sexualisation of our sons and daughters will not occur.” ³

Challenges

Unsurprisingly, for something of such significance, the enemy will not be far away. We have seen two threats to our freedom to educate our Children from a biblical worldview recently, the Children’s Well-being and School’s Act 2026, and the imposition of VAT on independent school fees. Underlying the CWS Act is the creeping premise that the State, not parents, have ultimate responsibility for our children^4. The increase of fees due to VAT has caused a few Christian schools, already running on a tight budget to keep fees low, to close. Christian Concern have won the right to challenge this policy in a landmark Supreme Court hearing⁵.
 
It is clear that whatever our educational decisions, there is a great battle for the allegiances of our children. What would it look like if our churches perceived the urgency of the situation and embraced more fully the call to disciple our children, not just for a few hours a week, but by offering buildings and even rallying church members to resource families as they group together to learn? Could churches support Christian education hubs in the same way they run Toddler groups or Youth clubs? What might be the impact if children’s education were to be part of the fabric of every church?

It is clear that whatever our educational decisions, there is a great battle for the allegiances of our children. 

Hopes

We all need to do more than taking our children to church and the youth group. Might I end by recommending a resource which goes some way to addressing how we can disciple and spiritually prepare our children for these challenging times? ‘Issachar Eyes’ is a multi-author book, compiled by myself but written by an inspiring line up of Christians well respected in their fields (including the late Monica Hill) – reviewed to great applause in Prophecy Today last year. Steve Beegoo’s chapter on education might be of particular interest in light of this article.
 
Orders are direct from the website, https://issachareyes.com/. With Christmas coming up, could this be a gift whose impact will stretch far further than chocolates or socks (much as I appreciate both of these!).
 
May we all hear the Lord’s voice in this matter, may we all have courage to step out as He directs, and may we all know His provision and faithfulness as we build up the foundations of the next generation.
 
Molly Ashton
Molly Ashton is a married mother of four based in Somerset. She is a home educator who carries a passion to encourage others on this journey. She compiled the multi-authored book Another Way to Learn? Discovering the Beauty of Home Education, as well as the more recent study, Issachar Eyes (2025). 
 
Endnotes
1. See Ashton et al, ‘Issachar Eyes’, Cre8ion Studios, 2025. 
2. Rose et al, ‘What are they Teaching the Children?’ Wilberforce Publications, 2016.
3. Ashton et al, ‘Issachar Eyes’, Cre8ion Studios, 2025. 
4. https://he-byte.uk/england/the-most-dangerous-bill-yet-4/
5. https://christianconcern.com/news/christian-schools-win-permission-to-appeal-vat-policy/ This landmark hearing will take place on 1^st December and is the final stage of the legal process. Please pray, and find out more at https://christianconcern.com/
 
Resources: Home education
‘Another Way to Learn? Discovering the Beauty of Home Education’
https://ritchiechristianmedia.co.uk/products/another-way-to-learn-christian-year-publications-another-way-to-learn
 
Christian Schools
Christian Schools Trust - https://christianschoolstrust.co.uk/home/
 
Christian Education conference
Education Revolution - https://christianconcern.com/ccevents/education-revolution-2027/