Next month sees an international conference at the Vatican to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on education. Some have dismissed it as vague and irrelevant, but Sean Whittle argues that it has a surprisingly modern message Over the past three decades, the place of education within politics has radically changed. In the 1970s when Margaret Thatcher was Education Secretary, the post was regarded as a junior role. When Tony Blair swept to victory in the late 1990s, it was under the mantra of “education, education, education” and the position of Education Secretary is now a coveted job in the Cabinet.At the same time, on a wider social level we have become increasingly concerned about education. The question of which school our child