Peers will this week debate an amendment to the Education and Inspections Bill, tabled by Labour peers Baroness Massey of Darwen and Baroness Turner of Camden, which would remove the legal requirement on schools to provide a daily ‘act of collective worship’ which has to be ‘wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character’ and replace it with a requirement for assemblies that would be inclusive of all children – the non-religious and those of various religious backgrounds.
A coalition of religious groups, teaching unions and the British Humanist Association (BHA) has come together to urge peers to support the amendment when it is discussed. In a common statement, sent to all members of the House of Lords, the Association of School and College Leaders , the British Humanist Association , the Hindu Council UK , the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the UK , the National Union of Teachers and the Sikh Education Council said:
‘Inclusive assemblies can have great educational value, not least in building a collective ethos in bringing a school community together; they can contribute greatly to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development. Many schools provide such assemblies but the current law, which requires “collective worship”, is against them in this regard.’
Looking forward to the future and a reformed law, the six organisations commented, ‘If the law on worship and assemblies is changed, new guidance issued under the new law would doubtless contribute to a better sharing of good practice in the provision of inclusive and educational assemblies, and would represent a new entitlement for pupils that could command wide consensus – quite unlike the current requirement to provide “collective worship”.’
When an amendment was tabled to replace collective worship with inclusive assemblies in the last stage of the Bill, DfES minister Lord Adonis claimed that the current law commanded a ‘fairly broad consensus within the educational and faith communities’. The briefing sent to peers points out, in contrast to this claim, that a 1998 consultation on collective worship found that there was a wide consensus in favour of reform based on a statutory requirement for regular assemblies of a spiritual and moral character in place of the present act of worship. This option was supported by 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. In recent months Christian groups such as the Christian think-tank Ekklesia have also supported calls for a reform.
Andrew Copson, education officer at the BHA 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.’
NOTES
For the text of the briefing sent to peers click here
For more information and comment, contact Andrew Copson by email by clicking here or by telephone on 020 7079 3584 or 07855 380633
The Association of School and College Leaders represents more than 12500 secondary school and college leaders
The British Humanist Association represents the growing population of ethically concerned and non-religious people in the UK
The Hindu Council UK is a national network of Hindu temple bodies and cultural organisations coordinating all different schools of Hindu theology within the UK
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the UK is the elected governing body of members of the Baha’i faith in the UK
The National Union of Teachers is the largest teachers’ organisation in Europe
The Sikh Education Council is devoted to enhancing the human spirit for the benefit of mankind through education of The Sikh Way