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
Improve RSE in faith schools to curb forced marriage, campaigners say
Posted: Fri, 19 Feb 2021 11:54
Secondary school pupils should be taught that they can choose "who to marry, when to marry and whether to marry at all", including in independent faith schools, campaigners have said.
Jewish counter-extremism group Nahamu (logo pictured) highlighted how a lack of relationships and sex education (RSE) contributes to forced marriage in Charedi Jewish communities in a position paper published this month.
The paper argues some Charedi arranged marriages fall within the definition of forced marriage under UK law, and calls for government action to protect young people in Charedi (ultra-Orthodox) communities.
The National Secular Society has previously highlighted the failures of many Charedi schools to deliver adequate education in RSE.
RSE in Charedi Jewish communities
The paper says the education of young people in Charedi communities can be "severely limited" because Charedi schools may redact material that is "not consistent with a specific world view".
It adds that:
- The lack of RSE in Charedi schools means engaged couples "may not be prepared for sexual relations" and are "unlikely to have any meaningful awareness of what it means to consent".
- People in Charedi communities may not "understand or recognise abusive behaviours", including sexual abuse, marital rape or domestic abuse.
- There is a "total exclusion" of any reference to LGBT+ people in "both educational and social contexts". This means LGBT+ people in Charedi communities face "additional challenges" and "very serious issues of consent" when presented with a universal expectation of early, heterosexual marriage.
The paper identifies other factors leading to forced marriage in Charedi communities, including rushed engagements with very little contact between the marrying couple; community-enforced penalties for breaking engagements; and difficulties in obtaining a divorce.
It says "improved education, particularly in schools" in Charedi communities is the best way to improve compliance with laws prohibiting forced marriage.
It recommends that the Department for Education should ensure education around forced marriage is included in mandatory RSE, including in maintained and independent Charedi schools, with support from school watchdog Ofsted.
Comment
An NSS spokesperson called the paper a "wake-up call" to the problem of forced marriage in conservative religious communities.
He said: "The paper's recommendations once again emphasise the need for all schools, including independent faith schools, to teach age-appropriate, LGBT-inclusive RSE to all pupils.
"A considerable number of state-funded and independent Jewish schools refuse to do this on religious grounds. This paper has highlighted some of the significant dangers of this.
"Children in insular religious communities are most in need of education about relationships and sex. Turning a blind eye will leave more young people at risk of forced marriage and abuse."
Jewish schools' opposition to RSE: some recent examples
- In 2020, 17 rabbis said Charedi Jewish schools would refuse to compromise with requirements to teach about the existence of same-sex couples in RSE.
- In 2019 a BBC expose revealed that two state-funded Jewish schools in north London had encouraged parents to opt children out of RSE. The NSS then revealed that the government had dismissed concerns about community pressures at one of the schools.
- In 2019 the NSS also revealed that ultra-orthodox Jewish schools were planning to refuse to teach aspects of RSE by exploiting loopholes in government regulations.
Nahamu logo via Twitter.
UK quizzed over collective worship law by UN
Posted: Thu, 18 Feb 2021 14:13
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has questioned laws which require collective worship in UK schools after the National Secular Society raised the issue.
The CRC asked what steps the UK is taking to repeal laws requiring daily acts of worship in schools, as part of its periodic examination of children's human rights in the UK.
The committee monitors the progress of member states' implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The CRC asked the UK to describe the measures it had taken to "repeal legal provisions for compulsory attendance at collective worship in publicly funded schools", and to ensure children can "independently exercise the right to withdraw from religious observance".
The UK is the only Western democracy to legally impose worship in publicly funded schools. Parents have a right to withdraw their children from collective worship, but children cannot withdraw themselves.
The NSS highlighted the issue of collective worship in a submission to the CRC in November.
The CRC also asked what measures the UK is taking to:
- Ensure relationships and sex education is LGBT-inclusive. The NSS's submission raised concerns about inadequate access to comprehensive RSE.
- Ensure girls' access to safe abortion services in Northern Ireland. The NSS said girls in NI are "still struggling" to access abortion services, despite the decriminalisation of abortion in 2019.
- Prevent cases of female genital mutilation and "unnecessary medical or surgical treatment of intersex children". But it did not raise the issue of non-therapeutic circumcision on boys. The NSS's submission urged the CRC to "extend its scrutiny" to this area.
- Integrate human rights education into school curricula and teacher training programmes. The NSS has repeatedly called for a stronger focus on human rights in citizenship education.
NSS comment
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said: "It's good to see the CRC defending children's right not to have religious rituals imposed on them, and their right to inclusive relationships and sex education.
"For too long, religious interference in education has undermined the rights to education, equality and freedom of religion or belief. The UK must take the CRC's requests seriously and urgently address these issues.
"But it's disappointing that the CRC has overlooked infant boys in its scrutiny of non-therapeutic genital cutting. All children, regardless of sex, should have equal rights to bodily autonomy and must be protected from painful, permanent and dangerous religious or cultural procedures done to them without their consent."
Testimonies in NSS submission
The NSS included testimonies from children and parents affected by the collective worship law in its submission.
One contributor, who was forced to pray in school, said: "Even at a young age I knew religion wasn't for me. That was my choice to make. It's not up to the state to force religion on anyone. Doing so is a breach of basic human rights."
Notes
- Every state that has ratified the convention is required to report to the CRC on how it is fulfilling its obligations. This allows the committee to assess what progress a state is making in implementing the convention. This reporting process happens once every five years.
- The UK's response to the CRC's list of issues is due on 15th February 2022.
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)
