Faith schools undermine equality, choice and social cohesion.
Let's build an inclusive education system today, to ensure an inclusive society tomorrow.
Our education system should be open and welcoming to all. That's why we want publicly funded faith schools phased out and an end to religiously selective school admissions.
Around a third of publicly funded schools in England and Wales are faith schools – schools with a religious character. Scottish and Northern Irish schools are still divided along sectarian lines.
Separating children according to religion is divisive and leads to religious, ethnic and socio-economic segregation.
To make matters worse, many faith schools can discriminate against pupils and teachers who do not share the religion of the school.
Parents are entitled to raise their children within a faith tradition, but they are not entitled to enlist the help of the state to do so. The state should not allow the schools it funds to inculcate children into a particular religion.
Faith schools seriously limit choice for parents who do not want a religious education for their children, or do not share the faith of the local school. Our research has found that 18,000 families were assigned faith schools against their wishes in England in 2017 alone.
Despite a consistent and dramatic decline in church attendance, and a growing majority of non-religious citizens, successive governments have paved the way for ever greater religious involvement in education, often to the detriment of inclusive community schools.
A secular approach to education would ensure publicly funded schools are equally welcoming to all children, regardless of their backgrounds.
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1. Write to your MP
Please call on your MP to support a secular, inclusive education system for all.
2. Share your story
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3. Join us
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‘Religious segregation under one roof' proposed for Isle of Man school
Posted: Wed, 27 Sep 2017 12:10
A faith school will co-locate with a non-religious school while retaining a faith-based ethos, in what the National Secular Society has termed "a farce".
The Department of Education and Children in the Isle of Man has determined that St Thomas' C of E Primary School, the only Church of England school on the island, is "no longer fit for purpose". It has cited the school's lack of disability access and its location within a constrained town centre space.
A considerably under-capacity community primary school, Scoill Vallajeelt, is located less than two kilometres from St Thomas'. However, instead of closing St Thomas' and offering the pupils places at Scoill Vallajeelt, the Department has decided to co-locate the two schools.
Scoill Vallajeelt is a non-religious school. But St Thomas' will operate on the same grounds while retaining its own headteacher, governing body, curriculum and faith-based ethos. In effect, there will be two groups of pupils studying on the same premises – but separated by faith.
This co-location of a religious school within a non-religious school is thought to be the first of its kind in the British isles. The NSS has previously criticised 'segregation under one roof' schools that co-locate two faith schools.
The co-location has been scheduled for September 2018. The proposal is supported by the Church of England and representatives of the Diocese.
Douglas Councillor Claire Well is one of a number of parents of children attending Scoill Vallajeelt who have expressed opposition to the plans. Speaking on Manx Radio, she said: "My fear of bringing a different school in and saying, 'well, these children are different to my children because they are in a faith school'...I'm not sure that that's the kind of message I want to portray to my children.
"We have children in the school who are Church of England, we have Muslims, we have all sorts of children. And they are accepted and they all get on beautifully. And I am concerned that this will bring a segregation and I don't feel the education department has even thought about that."
The NSS has contacted the Department of Education and Children, prompted by worried parents affected by the plans. The society expressed concerns that the inclusive ethos of Scoill Vallajeelt will be undermined and the proposals will prompt other religious schools to be moved into community schools.
The NSS also asked the Department to confirm claims made by the parents that no public consultation or equality impact assessment had been undertaken at any stage of the planning process.
The Department did not acknowledge these concerns in its response, which said: "The term 'segregation' has sadly been misused by a small number of parents at Vallajeelt in their efforts to prevent this move. It is not a term recognised by the Department and we would not condone or tolerate such a practice."
The Department said it had not considered closing St Thomas' and merging the children with Scoill Vallajeelt because "to close the school and have these children merged with a larger school would go against the island's commitment to parental choice".
But the Department's response also revealed that neither a public consultation nor an equality assessment analysis had been undertaken before the decision to co-locate the schools, because they were "not required." The recently introduced Isle of Man Equality Act specifically exempts decisions over school closures, with many such reorganisations necessitated by the island's changing demographics.
Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns director, said: "Rather than pursuing the parsimonious solution of simply offering places at the viable school to pupils from St Thomas', the Department is jumping through unnecessary hoops to create a farce of a school within a school.
"If these proposals go through, then for the first time students on the Isle of Man will be segregated by their parents' religion, inside one school building. While we'd obviously like to see pupils of different backgrounds brought together, the only real way to do this is through inclusive community schools for all pupils. Making the two schools co-locational but with different uniforms, classes and so on will simply highlight separateness, and create a sense of otherness.
"If the schools are co-locational, there is likely to be spill over in some of the softer ways the faith school promotes their religious ethos.
"We understand that the island's schools face significant challenges with a changing population. We understand this requires difficult decisions to be made about school closures and reorganisation. However, making the provision of denominational education the overriding concern will only add to these difficulties."
The image shows the coat of arms of the Isle of Man.
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Girls forced to wear hijabs in English schools, NSS reveals
Posted: Sun, 24 Sep 2017 06:59
Girls in dozens of schools in England are forced to wear hijabs, according to National Secular Society research published in the Sunday Times today.
The NSS examined uniform policies on the websites of registered Islamic schools in England and found that girls potentially as young as four are instructed to wear the hijab as part of the official uniform policy.
Out of 142 Islamic schools that accept girls, 59 have uniform policies on their website that suggest a headscarf or another form of hijab is compulsory. This includes eight state-funded schools and 27 primary schools – three of which are state-funded.
In some cases the requirement is very explicit. At Feversham College in Bradford the policy states: "It is very important that the uniform is loose fitting and modest and that the hijaab is fitted closely to the head. The College uniform is COMPULSORY" (sic). Tayyibah Girls' School in Hackney states: "The school is not willing to compromise on any issues regarding uniform."
Girls at Al-Ihsaan Community College in Leicester are told they must wear either a "jilbaab or niqab." The jilbaab is a long loose-fitting garment which covers the body except the hands, face and feet. Redstone Educational Academy in Birmingham includes the jilbaab as part of the compulsory uniform. Olive Secondary in Bradford says that girls' faces "must be covered" outside.
Eighteen schools explicitly state in their online uniform policy that the hijab is optional. Thirteen of these are state-funded.
The NSS has written to the Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening, about the issue. The letter called for the Government to ensure girls from Muslim backgrounds are supported to have free choices, rather than having so called 'modesty' codes imposed on them. It urged the Government to issue guidance making clear that a decision not to incorporate the hijab into a school uniform will be supported by the Government, and that the freedom to allow the hijab to be worn does not extend to primary schools.
"All schools have a duty to 'actively promote' individual liberty, to ensure young people leave school prepared for life in modern Britain," the letter said.
"In our view, the forcing of a child to wear the hijab, or any other item of religious clothing, is entirely at odds with this fundamental British value and with wider human rights norms on children's rights. This conflict needs to be addressed."
The letter has been co-signed by several feminists from Muslim backgrounds including Sara Khan of Inspire, Amina Lone of the Social Action & Research Foundation and human rights activist Yasmin Rehman.
NSS campaigns director Stephen Evans commented: "If individual liberty means anything it all, surely it means allowing young people to develop their own beliefs and decide for themselves how they choose to manifest them. Schools should be empowering girls to make their own decisions once they are ready to do so.
"Pupils from Muslim backgrounds should be supported to have free choices, not have so called 'modesty' codes imposed on them. No pupil should be forced to adopt religious practices or obliged to wear the hijab whilst at school."
The latest revelations come three weeks after it emerged that girls as young as five are wearing the hijab at school, as thousands of non-Islamic schools incorporate it into their uniform codes. The following week campaigners led by Ms Lone called for a "robust" response.
Text of letter send to Justine Greening, Secretary of State for Education, Minister for Women and Equalities
We write with concerns that British school children are being forced to wear the hijab and other items of religious clothing whilst at school.
Our research indicates that girls as young as four are being made to wear the hijab as part of an official school uniform policy. The wearing of the hijab appears to be compulsory in eight of the 23 publicly funded Islamic schools that accept girls – including in three primary schools.
The majority of independent Muslim schools also require the hijab to be worn, including one school that further requires children's faces to be covered outside of the school.
All schools have a duty to 'actively promote' individual liberty, to ensure young people leave school prepared for life in modern Britain.
In our view, the forcing of a child to wear the hijab, or any other item of religious clothing, is entirely at odds with this fundamental British value and with wider human rights norms on children's rights. This conflict needs to be addressed.
We are further concerned that a number of non-Islamic schools appear to be acceding to fundamentalist pressure to incorporate the hijab into their uniform. Whilst we fully support efforts to allow children from Muslim backgrounds to better integrate, a desire to be 'inclusive' should not automatically lead to the accommodation of illiberal and repressive cultural norms.
Given the 'justifications' that lie behind so called 'modesty' codes, and its implicit sexualisation of children, we regard it as a matter of deep regret that so many schools are facilitating young girls being dressed in the hijab.
Whilst policies permitted the wearing of the hijab are so often framed in terms of choice and freedom, we urge you to recognise that this 'freedom' is often dictated by social pressure.
Education policy should empower girls and help them to make their own decisions once they are ready to do so. We therefore call on you to work alongside Ofsted to ensure that girls from Muslim backgrounds are supported to have free choices, rather than having so called 'modesty' codes imposed on them. No child should be obliged to wear the hijab, or any other article of religious clothing, whilst at school.
With regard to accommodations made by other schools, we urge you to issue guidance that makes it clear that a decision not to incorporate the hijab into a school uniform will be supported by the Government. The guidance should also make clear that the freedom to make accommodations to allow the wearing of the hijab does not extend to primary schools.
Stephen Evans, Campaigns Director, National Secular Society
Sara Khan, Director and Co-founder, Inspire
Amina Lone, Co-Director of the Social Action & Research Foundation
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Journalist
Pragna Patel, director of Southall Black Sisters.
Gina Khan, Spokesperson, One Law for All
Yasmin Rehman, Women and Human Rights Activist
Iram Ramzan, Journalist
Zehra Zaidi, Director of Stand up, social activist and former Conservative PPC
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More information
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Remove religious appointees from Scottish councils
Religion shouldn’t grant people privileged places in local democracy.
Research and reports
The faith schools research bank
The choice delusion: how faith schools restrict school choice
Three in ten families across England live in areas where most or all of the closest primary schools are faith schools and thousands are being assigned faith schools against their wishes.
Power grab: Academisation and the threat to secular education
Academisation has enabled faith groups to increase their influence over all schools, including those with no religious character. With little public debate, religious governance has increased, while secular oversight has diminished.
Religiosity inspections: the case against faith-based reviews of state schools
Faith based inspections of state schools are an unnecessary drain on public finds, frame widely held values as exclusive, and promote biased religious education.
Faith-shaped holes: How religious privilege is undermining equality law (PDF, 1.3 Mb)
