Concerns about the Education Bill’s further proliferation of religious discrimination in schools were raised during its “second reading” in the House of Lords yesterday by Labour, Conservative and Crossbench peers including Christians, Hindus and Humanists.
Peers spoke out against the continuing power of ‘faith’ schools to discriminate in admissions, the appointment of governors and the employment of staff, about homophobic bullying, about extremist (including creationist) groups setting up Free Schools with unbalanced curricula, about the need to repeal laws on collective worshipand about the need to maintain community cohesion.
Members of the All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group made many valuable contributions:
- Lord Collins of Highbury, the latest peer to join the Group, spoke on the need for schools to tackle homophobia, expressing concerns that ‘nine in 10 teachers and non-teaching staff in schools report having never received training on how to prevent and respond to homophobic bullying.’
- Group Secretary Baroness Massey of Darwen discussed community cohesion, and also how ‘The new centralising power of the Secretary of State could permit religious discrimination in employment in academies that convert from being voluntary controlled schools. Prospective pupils can be discriminated against on the basis of their parents’ religion. Staff can be discriminated against on the grounds of religion or belief. In 2008, the schools adjudicator found that 3,500 faith schools were in breach of the admissions code. There will be no repeal of the duty on schools to participate in a daily act of worship which is “broadly Christian” in character, despite the new freedoms proposed for schools.’
- Baroness Flather, Vice Chair of the Group, asked ‘How can you say that autonomy is not good? It is wonderful to run your own institution, appoint your own governors and choose your own teachers. However, if the autonomy has a religious basis, you could discriminate against people who are not of your faith in admissions, employment and the appointment of governors… [Faith schools] do nothing but segregate children. Do we really want segregation in this country? The more faith schools we have, the more segregation we will have… Will we one day have creationist schools? Why not? Creationists say they are a faith… If children are not educated together, they will never know each other. They will never get together… I cannot understand why Ofsted’s power to look for community cohesion in schools has been taken away. It is the most important aspect of this issue. A school is not just for itself but is also about providing for the whole community, not only for the governors or the pupils. Ofsted’s power to look for community cohesion is fundamental and should never be removed.’
The British Humanist Association (BHA) briefed peers ahead of the debate. Commenting, BHA Chief Executive Andrew Copson said, ‘It is clear that the concerns we have consistently raised about the context of the Education Bill are widely shared. We urge the Government to take heed of the broad range of individuals speaking out against the further entrenchment of religious divisions in our school system.’
The BHA is working with Peers from across the Parties in seeking to have the Education Bill amended in ways to protect the rights of teachers and children.
Notes
For further comment or information, please contact Andrew Copson, 020 7079 3583.
Read the BHA’s briefing for Lords second reading of the Education Bill.
Read more about the BHA’s campaigns work on 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.