No more faith schools

No more faith schools

Page 85 of 310: We need inclusive schools free from religious discrimination, privilege or control.

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.

  • 58% of Brits oppose faith schools and only 30% say they have "no objection" to faith schools being funded by the state.
  • 72% of voters, including 68% of Christians, oppose state funded schools being allowed to discriminate against prospective pupils on religious grounds in their admissions policy.

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.

  • Other representatives

    We also have template letters to write to your Members of the Scottish or Welsh Parliaments or Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly.

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

School sign

Independent Islamic school segregating children by sex, says Ofsted

Posted: Wed, 6 Nov 2019 14:50

An independent Islamic school in Greater Manchester has been found in breach of the independent school standards for segregating children by sex, two years after the practice was ruled unlawful.

Rochdale Islamic Academy, a school with 221 pupils on roll aged between 11 and 16, was criticised in an Ofsted report published last week.

The Court of Appeal ruled that segregating children by sex within the same school was unlawful in 2017.

Ofsted's report said:

  • The school was segregating pupils by sex "for the whole of their education and at social times".
  • The school's buildings were on two separate sites – one for boys and the other for girls.
  • Pupils didn't have "the choice to socialise or work with pupils of the opposite sex", and this was "detrimental to their education and social development".
  • Boys and girls followed different curricula, their choice of subjects was limited by their sex and segregation denied them "opportunities to work and socialise with pupils of the opposite sex".
  • Girls have "more time and lessons dedicated to learning secular subjects than boys do", with boys spending "every morning taking part in Islamic studies".

The report also noted that the school's leaders are applying to register its two sites as separate schools, one for boys and one for girls.

In response, National Secular Society head of education Alastair Lichten said: "It is concerning that two years after sex segregation within the same school was ruled unlawful, some schools with a religious character are persisting in treating boys and girls unequally.

"Gender segregation and stereotyping harm pupils' access to equal opportunities and their ability to form healthy relationships with people of the opposite sex.

"The government must make clear that all schools, including independent faith schools, are obliged to follow the law and treat male and female pupils equally."

Notes

  • The report came after the school was subject to an emergency inspection on 18 September. Emergency inspections are designed only to assess schools' compliance with particular standards.
  • The government issued warning notices to two more independent Islamic schools which were segregating children by gender earlier this year.
  • Ofsted conducted another inspection of Rochdale Islamic Academy in May 2019, when inspectors said the school met the independent school standards.

See more: School breaking the law by keeping boys and girls apart, Ofsted says – report in Manchester Evening News.

School corridor

Islamic school stays open after telling government it was closed

Posted: Thu, 24 Oct 2019 11:29

An independent Islamic school which refused access to inspectors has remained open despite telling the government it had closed, a report from the education watchdog Ofsted has revealed.

In a report published on Monday, Ofsted said "the available evidence" suggested Islamic Preparatory School Wolverhampton was still operating when inspectors visited the site on 25 September.

The inspection took place two days after the school's head informed the Department for Education (DfE) that the school had closed.

Pupils were seen entering and leaving the building during the inspection. Ofsted said the school was providing 11 pupils with 16 hours of education per week, and it was "likely the pupils receive the majority of their education at this school".

The report also revealed that:

  • Ofsted's lead inspector was denied entry to the school during the visit. The school's head, Rashid Raja, had also refused to allow an inspector on to the premises during a visit in February.
  • Inspectors were unable to check whether the school had a suitable safeguarding policy, despite the fact they found "several hazards" in the school during the February visit.
  • The proprietor claimed the school was only providing tuition, so did not need to be registered or inspected.

National Secular Society head of education Alastair Lichten said:

"This is an extraordinary reminder of the lengths some religious groups will go to in their attempts to deny children a decent education.

"The government must ensure this school is closed. And those who run schools without appropriate registration or who refuse to allow inspectors to enter schools should be prosecuted.

"Allowing religious schools to operate without oversight leaves children with no guarantee that they will be kept safe or prepared for life outside insular religious communities. Religion must not be above the law."

Notes

  • Refusing entrance to school inspectors contravenes Section 110 of the Education and Skills Act 2008, which provides inspectors with the right of entry to any school to carry out a lawful inspection.
  • The school was rated 'inadequate' in all areas during the February inspection.
  • The school is now listed as closed on Ofsted's section of the gov.uk website.

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