The British Humanist Association (BHA) has welcomed conclusions offered by a new report by the Institute of Community Cohesion on segregation in Blackburn with Darwen. The study found that faith schools were one of the causes of segregation in the area. It argued that the “level of segregation in schools is high, growing and more extensive than the level of residential segregation would suggest”.
Although the report recognised initiatives were undertaken in Blackburn’s schools to improve community cohesion, they were also insufficient. Commenting on the report, Professor Ted Cantle, its main author, said that faith schools in the area remained “automatically a source of division which have to be overcome”. The report recommends that the council could challenge “faith schools to reconsider their admission policies in light of the impact on cohesion”. The report however noted that some schools in the town indicated that they did not intend to change their admission polices, which discriminate against pupils on the basis of religious belief.
Andrew Copson, BHA Director of Education and Public Affairs, said, ‘By discriminating against and segregating pupils on the basis of religion, faith schools help to widen, rather than over come divisions in society. Social cohesion and preparation for life in a multi-cultural society is best achieved in inclusive community schools, where children from different backgrounds learn with and from each other.’
Notes
For comment or information, contact Andrew Copson, Director of Education and Public Affairs, on 020 3675 0959, or Paul Pettinger, Faith Schools and Education Campaigns Officer, on 020 7462 4993.
The British Humanist Association (BHA) is the national charity representing and supporting the non-religious, campaigning for an end to religious privilege and to discrimination based on religion or belief and is the largest organisation in the UK working for a secular society. 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.