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| Emma Park |
To anyone trying to navigate it for the first time, England’s education system can seem like an old ship, endlessly patched and repatched by successive governments until the original structure has been lost and nothing moves without taking on water.
Its Byzantine edifice of rules and regulations contains many a rotting timber – not least the exceptional status given to faith schools. These are defined as schools of religious “character” or “ethos”, or which may have formal links to a religious organisation.
The National Secular Society (NSS), which campaigns against faith schools, estimates that about one in three schools in England and Wales, both independent and state-funded, can be so labelled.
These schools are permitted to select some or all of their students, as well as their staff, on the basis of their or their family’s religion. Then there is the curriculum. It may be no surprise that faith schools are allowed to teach religious education “within the tenets of their faith”.
These schools are permitted to select some or all of their students, as well as their staff, on the basis of their or their family’s religion. Then there is the curriculum. It may be no surprise that faith schools are allowed to teach religious education “within the tenets of their faith”.
Yet this also applies to relationships and sex education, giving them leeway to insert bias and promote religious doctrine on important topics such as homosexuality, extra-marital sex and women’s rights.
Continue reading @ New Humanist.
Opponents are concerned about the extension of influence from churches, mosques and synagogues into schools – particularly as, in addition to Ofsted inspections, faith schools are subject to statutory “religiosity inspections” by their sponsoring religious body. The problem becomes more worrying when it comes to unregistered faith schools, which are not regulated at all and which operate in a shadowy world on the margins of the law. Although they are far fewer in number, these schools can have a severe effect on the lives and future prospects of the children who pass through their doors.
Opponents are concerned about the extension of influence from churches, mosques and synagogues into schools – particularly as, in addition to Ofsted inspections, faith schools are subject to statutory “religiosity inspections” by their sponsoring religious body. The problem becomes more worrying when it comes to unregistered faith schools, which are not regulated at all and which operate in a shadowy world on the margins of the law. Although they are far fewer in number, these schools can have a severe effect on the lives and future prospects of the children who pass through their doors.
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