THE Archbishop of Canterbury will today endorse the proposed moral curriculum for schools despite its failure to stress marriage as the ideal relationship in which to bring up children.
In his first major contribution to the debate about what schoolchildren should be taught about marriage, Dr George Carey will say that he would have liked to have seen more emphasis on marriage but will call on schools to add to what is in the statement.
He accepted that the guidelines drawn by the Government's curriculum advisers reflected the present consensus view of society, which was that children could receive love and commitment in families of different kinds.
Speaking at a conference on "Values and the Curriculum" at the Institute of Education today, Dr Carey will say: "I, and many others, would no doubt want to make additional and stronger points if we were setting out our own beliefs.
"To my mind, the specific mention of support for the institution of marriage can be translated into a great deal of new thinking and classroom work about the institution of marriage."
As an example, he cites exploring the issues couples need to think about before getting married, and what it needs to flourish. He adds: "The time has come to stop arguing about particular words in the statement and to move on to the huge and vital task of considering what the implications are for the curriculum and activities and ethos of the school."
The curriculum statement, by a 150-strong group on behalf of the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority, did not originally mention marriage in relation to child rearing.
Most of the group argued that too firm a commitment to marriage would upset children from single-parent homes.
Christian groups were outraged, and Julian Brazier, chairman of the Conservative Family Campaign, called it an "un-Christian document".
He said: "Marriage is absolutely pivotal - it is not a religious issue, it is an issue of the parents of children having made a long-term commitment to each other."
After a rebellion by five members of the group that drew it up, and the intervention of Gillian Shephard, the Education Secretary, the statement was strengthened to mention marriage, but only as the traditional relationship in which to bring up children, rather than the "ideal" way proposed by the five dissenters.
