The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has condemned ‘faith’ schools’ power to discriminate against teachers and lambasted some ‘faith’ schools for failing to promote tolerance and equality.
Motion 54 passed yesterday at the spring conference of the NUT, stated that the conference ‘notes the continued discrimination faced by our members in faith schools, on the grounds of sexuality, not to mention marital status, transgender status and even race or nationality. Some religious schools believe they are above the law and can do anything that they believe is in line with their religious beliefs.’
The resolution also noted the opposition by religious groups to initiatives designed to promote tolerance and equality in schools, including criticism by the Catholic Church of a code of conduct requiring teachers to challenge discrimination and promote equality. ‘This is something which should be at the centre of what every teacher does’ read the motion ‘but that the Catholic Education Service contradicts and many other faith schools do not accept.’
Following the debate, the general secretary of the NUT, Christine Blower, stated that: ‘While faith schools will clearly want to set an environment that reflects their religious ethos, we need to ensure that the religious and cultural differences of all pupils and staff are recognised and that the values of community cohesion are practised by all schools. Discrimination on the grounds of sexuality, marital status or religion should have no place in any of our schools.’
British Humanist Association (BHA) Chief Executive Andrew Copson who attended the NUT conference for the BHA, said:
‘These calls for reform demonstrate the widespread opposition to the discrimination allowed to state-funded religious schools by law.
‘In the last few days teachers, academics, and even the Chairman of the Church of England’s Board of Education have spoken against ongoing discrimination in religious schools. These calls should not be ignored and these discriminatory practices should be abolished.’
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For further comment or information, contact Andrew Copson at andrew@humanists.uk or 020 3675 0959.
For more information on our work to end discrimination in ‘faith’ schools please see here.
The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of ethically concerned, non-religious people in the UK. It is the largest organisation in the UK campaigning for an end to religious privilege and to discrimination based on religion or belief, and for a secular state.