Six hard-hitting facts about faith schools

Faith schools in the UK are a problem, and now the evidence is piling up. We’re not going to sugarcoat it. Faith schools are causing religious indoctrination, segregation, and division in this country. Here are six hard-hitting facts that expose the urgent need for change.

1) Churches are spending millions on evangelism

The Church of England is running a programme to evangelise and convert non-religious children into Christians. The Church’s Annual Report revealed a plan to pump £7 million into pushing their religion on children in state schools, in order to ‘double the number’ of young disciples by 2030. The strategy is already taking effect, with recent evidence emerging of children being taken to ‘prayer parties’, with bus-loads of children driven to happy-clappy US-style parties to sing that ‘Jesus died for me’.

2) Creationism STILL finds a way into state-funded schools

A damning report recently revealed that creationism was able to seep into a school that had no religious ethos in Wales. Bible quotes feature on science posters, as well as in student advice planners – which promoted bible passages on abuse and ‘doubting god’. The school in question was prominently advertising Christian clubs and the evangelical Christian ‘Alpha Course’.

3) Parents need to win ‘faith school points’ to gain admission

Faith schools award parents ‘faith school points’ in order to gain admission. These are granted by local churches and are based on how much parents engage in religious activities. These include attending services, joining parent-toddler groups, singing in choirs, participating in nativity plays, baptisms, and sometimes even – although it is against the law – donating to the Church. Parents shouldn’t need to jump through hoops just for their children to attend their local school.

4) They segregate communities, and poorer families lose out

Areas with a higher concentration of faith schools have more segregation, the latest evidence shows. Something that often shows up in the statistics, for example, is that faith schools admit fewer children on free school meals compared with their neighbouring comprehensives. Faith-based admissions policies are discriminatory, and are bad for children, families, and society.

5) Children with special educational needs lose out

The latest research reveals that faith schools admit fewer children with special educational needs or disabilities compared to non-religious community schools. This is simply because around a third of faith schools don’t make it plain that they can be admitted – or how. It’s an unholy mess.

6) Illegal faith schools STILL exist

There are at least 6,000 children in England trapped in illegal schools, enduring shocking conditions and a complete lack of safeguarding. Many of these so-called ‘schools’ are religious institutions claiming to offer ‘part-time’ education. In reality, they confine children to small rooms, forcing them to study scripture for hours on end each day. They are at risk of physical and sexual abuse, and we’re campaigning to shut these ‘schools’ down for good. The Labour Government has said it will ban them, and we will keep laying on the pressure to see these schools closed.