Stephen Warden (Mailbox, April 1) criticises Allan Hayes, President of Leicester Secular Society, on false grounds.

As a member of the society, I can assure Mr Warden that the membership is very much behind Allan in his critique of "faith" schools.

Mr Warden mistakenly believes secularists are against teaching about religion in schools. We are not, for religions are an important fact of life that cannot be ignored and pupils need to be informed about the many religions there are and the ways in which their doctrines conflict. If they want to be religious they would then be able to make an informed choice.

Unfortunately faith schools do not do this but concentrate on indoctrinating children, often very young children, into a particular faith before they are old enough to be aware of what is happening. This lays the seeds for future hostility between different religious groups.

For these schools, multi-faith teaching can never be allowed to undermine the basic message exemplified in the numerous religious symbols displayed around the school or the inevitable chapel, prayer room or mosque in the grounds.

I am a non-believer yet my taxes are used by the state to fund these religious schools that falsely tell their pupils that theirs is the one true faith and that everybody else is in error.

They are legally allowed to select children of parents with particular beliefs and to discriminate in the appointment of teaching and other staff. They create a sealed environment where children are denied a true education.

The Government not only allows this but showers money on it, your money and my money. What is worse, of course, is that by law every school must have "a daily act of religious worship" and that means that non-believers are unable to obtain equivalent state funding to run secular schools that might give children a truly balanced understanding of all religions – as well as the non-religious approach to living good lives and being good citizens, respectful of all.

Harry Perry, Desford.