The British Humanist Association has today written to Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Education, in response to a widely publicised call from some Christian churches for the Government to give ‘greater commitment’ to collective worship in schools.
The letter to Mr Johnson repeats the BHA’s policy of many years that schools should be obliged, not to provide worship, but inclusive assemblies.
In the letter the BHA’s education officer Andrew Copson said:
‘Good inclusive assemblies have a vital educational role – they can bring a school together in celebration of common values, and they can assist pupils in exploring questions of purpose, value and meaning together.
These aims, however, are not best served by a law that requires acts of collective worship. A school may do many things collectively but, lacking a shared religion, it is incoherent to require that they ‘worship’ together.’
The legal requirement for schools to hold collective worship has been a contentious one for many years, and many faith and secular organisations signed up to Collective Worship Reviewed (the result of a national consultation held by the Religious Education Council, the National Association of Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education and the Inter-Faith Network in 1998), which proposed reform based on a statutory requirement for regular assemblies of a spiritual and moral character in place of the present act of worship. It was supported not only by the British Humanist Association but also by large majorities of respondents to each of the three sponsors, and by the following: Christian Education Movement, Professional Council for RE, Conference of University Lecturers in RE, Association of RE Inspectors, Advisers and Consultants, National Association of Head Teachers, Secondary Heads Association, Association of Teachers and Lecturers, National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers, National Union of Teachers, Local Government Association, Society of Education Officers, Values Education Council, National Confederation of Parent Teachers Associations, Methodist Church, Free Church Federal Council, Buddhist Society, Sikh Education Council, Board of Deputies of British Jews.
Only three organisations – the Muslim Education Trust, the Evangelical Alliance and the Church of England Board of Education – failed to vote for this option or either of the others on offer, simple repeal of the law or the status quo – while the Catholic Education Service voted for the status quo.
The BHA’s letter pointed out the contrast between the position taken by the churches in their letter and the position taken by the many organisations that favoured reform.
The letter concluded that:
‘The BHA already provides guidance for teachers planning inclusive assemblies here and we would be more than willing to assist your Department in working towards assemblies inclusive of every child which can make an essential contribution to the development of every child.’
Note for editors:
For more info rmation and comment, contact Andrew by email or by telephone on 020 7079 3584 or 07855 380633
The British Humanist Association has been campaigning for reform of the law on collective worship, and published a widely-regarded policy paper in 2001 which has been revised and reissued this year. You can read it and about it here
You can read more about the BHA’s policy on worship and school assemblies here