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.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Please call on your MP to support a secular, inclusive education system for all.
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
3. Join us
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
Period products in schools may be restricted on religious grounds
Posted: Wed, 1 Dec 2021 14:41
The National Secular Society has warned that religious objections could be restricting the use of period products in schools.
New Department for Education (DfE) guidance for the period product scheme for schools urges schools to consider the "religious and cultural beliefs" concerning periods that "can restrict access to certain types of period products."
The guidance says schools should "be aware of religious and cultural beliefs around tampons when considering which products to buy" and "consider the views of parents and carers before distributing tampons to learners."
The NSS wrote to the DfE previously to raise concerns that earlier guidance suggested parental religious objections may take precedence over learners' own preferences and needs in influencing the provision of particular period products.
The DfE said it would "look for ways" suggested amendments from the NSS could feed into updated guidance. However, the minor changes within the new guidelines do nothing to address the concerns raised.
The DfE's equality impact assessment notes that "conservative attitudes among some groups that practice a variety of religions (e.g. Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism) can make it difficult for these learners to access period products, wider information on their use and menstruation", though this was not addressed in the guideline on reducing stigma.
In 2018 the NSS Unsafe Sex Education report revealed that some faith schools are promoting shame and stigmatism around menstruation and some period products. The report found that Islamic faith school Al-Hijrah (since closed) stated in the 'Personal hygiene' section of its policy, "…among the various types of pads, tampons may not be appropriate due to insertion."
Jewish faith schools Hasmonean High School and The King David High School refer to Leviticus in their teachings about relationships, which refers to a woman as "impure" during menstruation.
Comments
An NSS spokesperson said: "We welcome the Department's efforts to tackle stigma around menstruation through RSE and provision of period products in schools. But for the programme to fulfil its full potential, it should be pupil centred, and not hindered by religious beliefs.
"Pupils from conservative religious backgrounds are more likely to experience barriers to access period products and information. Such stigma shouldn't be reinforced, however unintentionally, by government guidance."
Quarter of independent faith schools fail Ofsted inspection
Posted: Wed, 1 Dec 2021 09:07
Ofsted's latest statistics show that in the last year 25% of non-association independent faith schools have not met required school standards.
Such independent faith schools are more than twice as likely as independent schools without a recorded religion to not meet full requirements, the figures reveal.
Non-association independent schools are not part of the Independent Schools Council and are inspected by Ofsted, as opposed to the Independent Schools Inspectorate.
Ofsted raised specific concerns about independent Jewish faith schools, 55% which did not meet the standards.
The report stated: "Muslim schools account for 45% of faith schools in this sector, followed by Christian schools (31%) and Jewish schools (24%).
"However, the number of pupils taught in Jewish schools tends to be larger than in the other faith schools. This means that the number of pupils attending Jewish schools (17,000) is over three times those attending Christian schools (4,700)".
The National Secular Society has played a leading role in reporting on the crisis of independent faith schools and pushing the government for improved standards and accountability. Common issues include narrow or censored curricula, poor safeguarding, refusal to teach about other religions or beliefs, and creationism taught as science. Poor or non-existent sex education is also another concerning issue.
In a section on ineffective safeguarding, the report added that faith schools "fare particularly poorly, with 11% judged to have ineffective safeguarding."
This is more than twice the number (5%) of all independent schools inspected, and more than triple the percentage (3%) of non-faith schools. Any schools with ineffective safeguarding are automatically judged as inadequate overall.
Comments
Head of Education at the NSS, Alastair Lichten, stated: "Many of these schools are failing because they prioritise religious indoctrination and faith formation over preparing pupils with the knowledge and experiences they need for adult life in modern Britain."
"Freedom for independent schools to take their own approach needs to be balanced with ensuring pupils' human rights, including to a basic education, are protected. It is concerning to see the response to this growing crisis has often been to criticise inspectors or the standards which exist to protect pupils' rights."
More information
Protect relationships and sex education
Age-appropriate relationships and sex education should be every child’s right.
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)
