BHA: Government reassures faith schools that they will still be able to discriminate

In a formal response to a parliamentary question on “faith schools” admissions, the government has made clear it does not intend to prevent current or new faith schools from discriminating in their admissions. The BHA has described this statement as “disturbing” and as going against previous commitments.

Andrew Copson, BHA Chief Executive, commented, ‘The government’s statement makes clear that religious discrimination in admissions is here to stay, going against what was implied in the Coalition Agreement, and against an explicit Liberal Democrat policy, that no new schools would be able to discriminate in admissions. State-funded “faith schools” which discriminate in their admissions are hugely unrepresentative of their local areas, dividing up children and communities along religious, socio-economic and often ethnic lines, creating huge social problems now and in the future.’

‘It is disturbing that the government has gone even further in its statement to reassure “faith schools” that as well as being able to select on the basis of religion, they can enforce their religious ethos through compulsory worship and through the curriculum. The state-funded education system should not be viewed or used as a vehicle for religious groups to promote their beliefs.’

Notes

Andrew Copson at andrew@humanism.org.uk or 07534 248596.

The British Humanist Association (BHA) is the national charity representing and supporting the non-religious and campaigning for an end to religious privilege and discrimination based on religion or belief. Committed to human rights, democracy, equality and mutual respect, the BHA works for an open and inclusive society with freedom of belief and speech.

16/06/10
Schools: Admissions
Question
Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will “facilitate inclusive admissions policies in as many [faith] schools as possible”, as set out in The Coalition: Our Programme for Government; what effect that will have on the ability of such schools to determine their admissions policies; whether they intend to set quotas for such schools; and what assessment they have made of the impact on the ethos of such schools.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools (Lord Hill of Oareford): The department has strong and productive working relationships with all faith groups, founded on respect for the high quality education they have provided for many years, and I am looking forward to continuing working with them on these issues.

As set out in The Coalition: Our Programme for Government, we will work with providers of faith based education to ensure that the schools they run serve their communities. All school admission arrangements have to comply with the statutory requirements of the school admissions code and related legislation. This ensures that all school places are awarded in a fair and open way. Schools that are their own admission authority will continue to be able to set their own admission arrangements and must ensure that they are compliant with the code. Many faith schools already admit children that are of another, or of no faith, helping ensure that their intake reflects the diversity of these communities. To support our new expansion of the academies programme we have made it clear that existing faith schools that convert to become academies will retain the ability to set their own admissions criteria and may continue to use faith based criteria in line with the admissions code.

We fully understand how important it is for schools to have and express their own distinct ethos. This is why the admissions code allows all schools to include in their admission arrangements a factual statement about their ethos. However, this is just one way for a school to communicate its ethos; schools are also free to develop and underline their ethos through their curriculum, assemblies and daily acts of collective worship.