BHA: Education White Paper: more state-funded ‘faith’ schools, and compulsory worship and Religious Education remained unreformed

The BHA has responded to the Government’s White Paper, ‘The Importance of Teaching’, which lays out proposed changes to the education system in England, welcoming the commitment given to good sex and relationships education and PSHE, but has expressed severe concern about the silence within the White Paper on the future within the compulsory curriculum subject of Religious Education (RE), on the future of compulsory religious worship in all schools, and on the failure of the White Paper to engage with the widely-shared concerns of the British public over an increase in the number of state-funded ‘faith’ schools.

Religious Education

The BHA has warned that government proposals to leave religious education (RE) largely unchanged in the reform of the curriculum would be a ‘profound missed opportunity’.

In the new education white paper, set to be introduced as a bill later this year, the government appears to propose retaining the current arrangements for RE, despite consistent criticism from religious and secular groups and bodies such as Ofsted. In most schools RE is taught according to syllabuses set by local committees which comprise representatives of the main religions. In most faith schools, it is taught according to the religion of the school and not inspected by Ofsted.

These arrangements have attracted continual criticism for leading to patchy and uneven provision of RE, with local syllabuses being overly prescriptive and cluttered with incidental detail. A recent report by Ofsted also found that non-religious beliefs such as Humanism are frequently excluded or dealt with poorly and that RE teachers are often uncertain what they are trying to achieve in the subject. In faith schools, ‘confessional’ RE has been linked to problems with community cohesion and the teaching of creationism.

BHA chief executive Andrew Copson said ‘To leave the current arrangements for RE in place would represent a profound missed opportunity. Properly taught and examined, RE has the potential not only to be a rigorous introduction to the diverse philosophical heritage of humanity but also a subject where, introduced and engaging with a range of religious and non-religious beliefs and values, young people can refine their own developing worldviews. It can be a hugely important subject which has the potential to greatly enrich young people’s lives, but the current system, including the current legislative framework, prevents it from doing so. All too often pupils are denied the opportunity to really engage with the subject, which is frequently delivered by teachers who are unsupported and unsure what they are trying to achieve.’

‘When the government is enacting sweeping reforms in all aspects of education, it seems absurd to leave the overly prescriptive and wasteful arrangements for RE intact. The government has a unique opportunity to turn RE into an academically rigorous subject, taught by specialists, which covers a range of religious and non-religious beliefs – we and many others will be urging them to take it.’

Compulsory religious worship

‘The Importance of Teaching’ is silent on the future of compulsory religious worship in English schools – currently something required by law on a daily basis.

Mr Copson said, ‘The White Paper emphasises that the Government is committed to empowering and listening to teachers. Every major teaching union in the last few years has agreed that the law requiring daily Christian worship in schools ought to be repealed – why isn’t the Government listening to them?

‘If this restrictive law is scrapped, schools will be free to hold inclusive educational assemblies which can build shared values and a sense of community. If the government really is serious about abolishing unfair and unnecessary laws, and about “freeing” schools, then the law on school worship should be near the top of the government’s list, not excluded from consideration entirely.’

Encouraging new ‘faith’ schools

The White Paper reproduces earlier Government assumptions that an increase in the number and type of state funded faith schools is unproblematic and something to be encouraged.

Naomi Phillips, BHA Head of Public Affairs, said, ‘There has been no engagement by the Government with the issues that many people have with different state-funded ‘faith’ schools from discriminatory admissions and employment policies to their extremist teaching. Government should not just wash its hands of responsibility for children’s rights and fair parental access to local schools in the name of a spurious freedom of choice, and while deregulation may be a liberation for many, it is a denial of protection for many more.’

NOTES

For further comment or information, contact Andrew Copson at andrew@humanism.org.uk or 07534 248596, or Naomi Phillips at naomi@humanism.org.uk or 07540 257101.

Read the White Paper publications.education.gov.uk

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. The BHA has a decades-long history working in education, not only working for inclusive schools but also developing and providing resources for teachers, parents and pupils on curriculum subjects including RE and Citizenship Education.