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
How a teacher and a Virgin Mary statue drew attention to religious bias in the Irish education system
Posted: Fri, 1 Sep 2017 17:11
A humanist teacher who objected to a statue of the virgin Mary being displayed at a state-funded school with a "religious ethos" in Ireland has lost a claim of discrimination at a Workplace Relations Commission hearing. (See full judgment).
In a confrontation with a caretaker, who had been given the job of placing the statue on display, the teacher said the statue was "unpalatable and offensive to him personally on the basis of his belief that the religious statue of the Virgin Mary is one associated with the repression of normal human sexuality".
When he removed the statue, he became involved in an altercation with the caretaker who, as a result, sustained minor injuries to his neck.
The teacher was given a verbal warning by the school (which was not identified at the Commission). He brought a claim of discrimination against the school, saying that the statue provoked deep unease and anxiety in him because of his deeply held beliefs.
But Enda Murphy, the adjudication officer in the case, rejected the teacher's claim for discrimination, harassment and victimisation, He said he did not believe the presence of the Mary altar "constituted a prohibition or disadvantage on him in terms of the manifestation or assertion of his beliefs as a humanist". The WRC ruling found the teacher was not discriminated against on the grounds of religion, said it was clear that "both parties engaged in conduct which was unprofessional" and that it was not unreasonable for a "faith school" to have such a statue.
Atheist Ireland, which campaigns for secular education in the country, said that the school is funded by the Government's Education Training Board (ETB) and does not have a religious patron but does have a "religious ethos", thereby imposing religion – mainly Catholic – on pupils. In an article on its website, Atheist Ireland explains the complexities of the school system where, despite state sponsorship and no religious patronage, Catholicism still dominates the ethos of the school.
Atheist Ireland states: "The state claims that the slow pace in addressing the problems of religion in schools is because the state has to convince the religious patron bodies, particularly the Catholic Church, to agree to changes. But ETB schools are directly run by state bodies, so there is no religious patron involved. The State is directly imposing a Catholic ethos on children of parents who are not Catholic. This type of ETB school is held up as an alternative to publicly funded schools with a religious patron… this confirms a pattern of the state directly imposing a religious ethos on children in schools that do not have a religious patron."
Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said: "At first sight, this case has strong echoes of the kind of discrimination claims brought by evangelical Christians in England, but it is clear that those with a religion other than Christian or those with no religion at all, are at a distinct disadvantage in the Irish education system."
This article is a substantially revised version of the one published on 1 September 2017, in the light of further information becoming available.
Humanist teacher loses discrimination claim over Mary statue
Posted: Fri, 1 Sep 2017 15:46
A humanist teacher who objected to a statue of the virgin Mary being displayed at a Catholic school in Ireland has lost a claim of discrimination at a Workplace Relations Commission hearing.
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)
