Faith schools are back on the news agenda. The Government’s Education and Inspections Bill will open the door to an expansion of faith schools and academies backed by religious interests. The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) have called this week for an end to the state funding of faith schools. The NUT will also be debating faith schools at their forthcoming conference.
The British Humanist Association (BHA), which has been in the forefront of campaigning for an inclusive and accommodating system of community schools for many years, welcomes the growing publicity being given to this position.
Opposition to faith schools and to an expansion of faith schools has long been a feature of the public’s view of education. In 2001 80% of respondents to a MORI poll believed all schools should be open to those of any religion or belief. In 2005 64% of respondents to an ICM poll opposed government funding for faith schools. In the same year a study by the Islamic Human Rights Commission found that only 49.7% of Muslim men and 42.9% of Muslim women had a preference for Muslim schools for their children. Opposition has been more prominent, however, in recent weeks.
Teachers call for end to faith schools
At the ATL’s conference, Rev Chris Wilson said, ‘My aspiration would be to have a secular education system in which all faiths are honoured and respected.’
Andrew Copson, education officer at the BHA, commented ‘We have been campaigning for many years for inclusive and accommodating community schools. They are the only alternative to an expansion of faith schools, which will keep children apart at the very time in the lives at which they most need to be together – learning about and from each other. I hope that the position of the ATL is the first sign of a growing consensus that this is the only way forward in our diverse society.’
In light of growing public concern, the British Humanist Association (BHA) has called for a proper public debate on the question of religion and schools, rather than the current rush to increase their number with little concern for what the public really wants.
Mr Copson said, ‘We need to be asking fundamental questions about the direction the Government is taking us in. Is it right that state-funded schools should be allowed to discriminate in their admissions on the grounds of personal beliefs? To teach an unbalanced curriculum of RE? To discriminate against prospective teachers because of their personal beliefs? If we believe in every child’s entitlement to a broad and mind-opening education, and we care about the future social cohesion of our society, the answer to all those questions must be no.’
You can read about the BHA’s views on the Government’s Education and Inspections Bill here
The BHA will be calling on Parliament to:
Legislate to ensure that no state-funded school is permitted to discriminate against a child in terms of admission to the school because of religion or belief.
Legislate to ensure that every state-funded school is required to provide a broad and balanced education about a range of religions and beliefs, and not their own syllabus.
Legislate to ensure that no-one applying to teach in a state-funded school or seeking promotion within a state-funded school can be discriminated against because they do not subscribe to a particular religion.
Notes to editors:
Further enquiries can be addressed by email to Andrew Copson or by telephone on 020 7079 3584 or 07855 380633
The British Humanist Association represents and supports the non-religious. It is the largest such organisation in the UK campaigning for an end to religious privilege and to discrimination based on religion or belief. In education, this means an end to the expansion of faith schools and for the assimilation of those that currently exist into a system of inclusive and accommodating community schools.
The British Humanist Association has been campaigning against faith schools and academies controlled by religious interest groups for many years, and published a widely-regarded policy paper, ‘A Better Way Forward’, in 2002 which has been revised and reissued this year. You can read it and about it here
In the years since the 2002 edition of ‘A Better Way Forward’ has been in print, it has proved valuable as a contribution to the various issues surrounding religion and schools – most obviously in the lead up to the 2004 National Framework for RE, which included ‘secular philosophies such as humanism’ for the first time, as part of a broader approach to beliefs and values education.
The supporting evidence for ‘A Better Way Forward’ has been continuously updated for the last five years with an online collection of statistics, reports, and quotes from stakeholders here