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
Independent faith schools being allowed to fail children, says NSS
Posted: Thu, 25 Jun 2020 11:32
The government is allowing independent faith schools which have taught creationism as science, unlawfully segregated children by sex and censored resources to repeatedly fail inspections, the National Secular Society has warned.
In a letter to education minister Elizabeth Berridge, sent this week, the NSS said the government was "falling short on its obligations to young people".
The NSS's letter highlighted six examples of schools that have consistently failed to meet expected standards and asked what action ministers intend to take in response.
All six schools have failed multiple inspections in recent years, and their most recent Ofsted inspection reports were all published in 2020.
The schools' failings
Among the failings noted in the schools' most recent reports were that they:
- Taught creationism as science
- Unlawfully segregated children by sex
- Didn't enter pupils for GCSEs because exam regulations don't allow leaders to censor papers
- Censored resources
- Limited their curricula or placed insufficient focus on secular subjects
- Failed to undertake adequate safeguarding procedures or safety checks
- Left children struggling to communicate in English
- Refused to make pupils aware of sexual orientation and gender reassignment.
At least one of the schools, Bnois Jerusalem Girls School in north London, refused to allow inspectors to talk to pupils during its latest inspection, apparently at the request of parents.
Inspectors reported that they were unable to judge whether the school safeguarded children effectively as a result.
The Department for Education has previously issued at least four of the schools with warning notices, giving them notice to improve and threatening deregistration if they failed to do so.
NSS letter
The NSS's letter highlighted "growing concerns and evidence" that "some pupils' human rights are being perpetually breached when schools are permitted to consistently fail".
The society's chief executive Stephen Evans wrote: "We hope you will share our view that children in these schools have been failed for too long and that appropriate action must be taken to ensure this situation cannot arise at other schools across the country.
"We believe the government is falling short on its obligation to young people and therefore call on you to ensure that children's fundamental human right to a quality education is properly respected and protected, regardless of their religious or cultural background."
NSS comment
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said: "It's unacceptable that children are being allowed to languish in schools which make active efforts to restrict their access to knowledge, fail to perform basic safeguarding procedures or break the law on sex segregation.
"When schools effectively refuse to meet their obligation to provide children with an education worthy of the name, the government must be prepared to protect their rights – regardless of religious sensitivities."
The schools highlighted
Bnois Jerusalem Girls School, London
- Rated 'inadequate' in June 2018. Failed to meet some standards in March 2019. Rated 'inadequate' in all categories in December 2019.
Bnei Zion Community School, London
- Rated 'inadequate' since 2016. Has failed to meet standards in three inspections since – two standard and one additional.
Lubavitch Senior Boys' School, London
- Rated 'inadequate' since its first inspection in 2018. Has had four inspections since opening.
Redstone Educational Academy, Birmingham
- Rated 'inadequate' in 2017 and has been since, including in a standard inspection in December 2019.
- Subject to an emergency inspection in 2014, when it was deemed "not suitable for the numbers on roll admitted".
Talmud Torah Chaim Meirim Wiznitz School, London
- Rated 'inadequate' in standard inspections in 2018 and 2019.
- Did not meet all standards checked during an additional inspection in 2017.
Wiznitz Cheder School, London
- Has failed to ensure compliance with all standards during the last five inspections (one standard and four additional), dating back to 2016.
Image by Wokandapix from Pixabay.
Schools won’t compromise on relationships education, rabbis tell PM
Posted: Thu, 21 May 2020 14:41
Seventeen rabbis have said Charedi Jewish schools will refuse to compromise with requirements to teach about the existence of same-sex couples when relationships and sex education becomes compulsory this year.
In a letter to the prime minister, the group requested that Charedi schools be allowed "to continue to educate our children in keeping with our sacred traditions".
The group said it had "made it very clear that we are obliged to follow by our Torah without changing anything whatsoever".
The letter does not explicitly refer to LGBT people, but it appears to suggest leaders of Charedi schools who concur with the rabbis will refuse to mention their existence.
It comes shortly after the government defended accommodations for religion in RSE teaching in England – despite criticism from peers.
Requirement to take religious background "into account"
During a debate in the House of Lords last week education minister Elizabeth Berridge noted that government guidance will require schools to take pupils' religious background "into account" when teaching RSE.
Shortly before the guidance was published last year the National Secular Society urged the education secretary to reconsider this requirement, amid a Muslim-led campaign against LGBT-inclusive education which featured protests outside schools.
Berridge also noted that primary schools are "strongly encouraged and enabled" to teach about families with same-sex parents in relationships education.
She described this language as more "permissive" than that used for secondaries, prompting concern from NSS honorary associate Michael Cashman on Twitter.
NSS response
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said the rabbis' letter showed "the folly of giving ground to religious groups on education about relationships and sex".
"The government should firmly rebuff this letter. Schools which refuse to abide by agreed standards should be deregistered.
"And ministers should reflect on what taking children's religious background 'into account' will mean when some religious leaders are so determined to pass their bigotry on to the next generation.
"Religious groups mustn't have a veto over children's right to receive a decent education, nor over society's interest in teaching children that LGBT people exist."
Mr Evans added that the NSS would seek clarification from the government over its position.
Peer raises concern over right to request withdrawal
The government's guidance also grants parents the right to request their child be withdrawn from sex education, which will be taught in secondary schools.
In last week's Lords debate crossbench peer Ruth Deech said children in faith schools who are withdrawn could miss classes "they sorely need". She added that children in "very religious schools" are "most vulnerable to ignorance and prejudice".
Deech's comments echoed concerns previously raised by the NSS.
Photo by form PxHere.
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)
