Every pupil in the British government's new “free schools” and academies will be taught about the importance of marriage.
Free schools are a new initiative of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government.
They are funded by the taxpayer, non-selective, and free to attend, but not controlled by local authorities.
According to a report in The Daily Telegraph, the schools will be made to sign up to new rules introduced by Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, setting out what pupils must learn about relationships.
The decision to spell out an explicit endorsement of marriage in the curriculum for tens of thousands of children is highly politically significant, and likely to be welcomed by Conservative traditionalists who have been concerned at a perceived failure by David Cameron's government to deliver on pledges to support married life.
The current guidelines state that pupils, “should be taught about the nature and importance of marriage for family life and bringing up children.”
However, they add that, “the government recognises that there are strong and mutually supportive relationships outside marriage. Therefore pupils should learn the significance of marriage and stable relationships as key building blocks of community and society.”
The reference to, "stable relationships,” that alludes to couples living together outside marriage and same-sex partners, has not been included in the model funding agreement documents.
The model agreement that free schools will sign up for reads, "The Academy Trust shall have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State on sex and relationship education to ensure that children at the academy are protected from inappropriate teaching materials and they learn the nature of marriage and its importance for family life and for bringing up children."
The wording of the section suggests a strengthening of traditional values in schools, but will also provoke opposition from those who believe marriage should not be given a privileged status in the curriculum.
Including the teaching of marriage in funding agreements puts a legal compulsion on head teachers to comply.
English, maths, science and RE are the only other curriculum subjects guaranteed in the model document.
If the terms of the agreement are broken, funding for the school can be withdrawn by ministers.
It may also be possible for parents to challenge through the courts, schools that are not abiding by the letter of their funding agreements.
The funding agreement clause also bans the use of "inappropriate materials" in schools.
It is likely to be seized on by campaigners who last week attacked the use of, "explicit" sex education material in primary schools and called for a ban on Channel 4's Living and Growing DVD, used in thousands of primary schools and which shows cartoon characters having sex in a variety of different positions.
Lessons in personal, social and health education (PHSE), which include sex and relationship education, are currently under review as part of the Government's general overhaul of the national curriculum, which applies in schools that are not either academies or free schools.
Tens of thousands of children are now taught in academies across the country.
The number of "independent" state schools, which receive funding directly from Government and have freedom over finances, curriculum and teachers pay, has mushroomed under the coalition.
All schools, whether primary or secondary, rated, "outstanding," by inspectors can now become academies without going through a lengthy application process, which has triggered a rise in numbers from just over 200 in 2010 to 1,300 now.
The funding agreement marriage clause also applies to the 24 free schools, set up by parents, teachers, faith groups and charities. Sixty more are in the pipeline and Mr Gove has made their expansion his flagship policy.
Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said, "Given the benefits that derive from marriage for young people, a short statement requiring that pupils learn its importance is entirely sensible."
But Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said, "For children brought up by unmarried parents or single parents being told that marriage is the only valid family arrangement will be totally contradictory to everything they know about the world. It opens the door for religious schools to teach a really narrow version of what constitutes an acceptable relationship. It is telling our children that their own family structure is somehow inferior. A lot of church schools would love to do that and this gives them license to do it."
Putting marriage at the heart of the curriculum will make Mr Gove popular among many Conservatives, but inflame tensions with the Liberal Democrats.
David Cameron, the Prime Minister, promised to recognise marriage in the tax system in this Parliament.
But the plan went on the back burner in coalition talks with the Liberal Democrats, who fiercely oppose special recognition for marriage.
Mr Cameron has said that he intends to honour the pledge before 2015, but George Osborne, the Chancellor, suggested last month there would be no room for tax cuts before the election.
In the same month, in a keynote speech to the Conservative Party conference, Mr Cameron urged party members to back gay marriage.
New Office for National Statistics figures show that marriage is steadily declining, with married couples now making up less than half the population.
However, research by the Centre for Social Justice, set up by Iain Duncan Smith, the secretary for work and pensions and the main proponent of tax breaks for married couples, and found that children have better outcomes if their parents are married.