The Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) has picked a Hindu primary school, run by the I-Foundation, as a replacement for a Jewish primary school in Redbridge which is re-locating. It was reported that the OSA picked the Hindu school over rival bids – including one from Redbridge council – as it believed the site ‘should be awarded to a voluntary-aided school because there are already 37 community primary schools in the borough.’ Being voluntary-aided means this new ‘faith’ school is funded by the state but will have control over admissions, employment and aspects of the curriculum, including RE. The school will be discriminating in admissions, reserving at least 25% of places for Hindus.
Although this is lower than is seen in some other voluntary aided ‘faith’ schools, which are permitted to put religious restrictions on up to 100% of all their admissions, it is still 25% too much. An opportunity arose for the OSA to replace a Jewish ‘faith’ school’ with an inclusive community school which would serve everyone in the local area. It is disappointing this opportunity has been missed and instead the OSA decision will continue to support the exclusive and damaging trend of increasing numbers of state-funded religious schools, which are able to widely and systematically discriminate in admissions and employment.
The BHA supports local groups in their campaigns against the opening of new ‘faith’ schools and has a dedicated ‘faith’ schools campaigns officer. Please contact naomi@humanists.uk if you become aware of any new ‘faith’ school proposals in your area.
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See the BHA’s ongoing campaigns in ‘Religion and Schools’
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.