In a letter to the National Secular Society, education minister Elizabeth Berridge said it was "not permissible for a school to apply simply to replace Christian or other religious collective worship with a non-religious assembly".
The letter also said that if the government was made aware that schools weren't meeting the duty to hold worship, it would "deal with it on a case by case basis".
Current legal situation
Schools in England and Wales are legally required to hold daily acts of collective worship which are "wholly or mainly of a Christian character".
And the most recent government guidance on collective worship, issued in 1994, says worship in schools "should be concerned with reverence or veneration paid to a divine being or power".
Many schools currently ignore the law and this has long been de facto accepted by both the Department for Education and Ofsted.
The letter also said that if the government was made aware that schools weren't meeting the duty to hold worship, it would "deal with it on a case by case basis".
Current legal situation
Schools in England and Wales are legally required to hold daily acts of collective worship which are "wholly or mainly of a Christian character".
And the most recent government guidance on collective worship, issued in 1994, says worship in schools "should be concerned with reverence or veneration paid to a divine being or power".
Many schools currently ignore the law and this has long been de facto accepted by both the Department for Education and Ofsted.
Continue reading @ National Secular Society.
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