by Marcus Papadopoulos
FAITH schools, an awkward subject which the Government may have thought it had put to bed, are all set to raise their head again.
Delegates attending the annual conference of the National Union of Teachers in Cardiff were all set to discuss a controversial motion calling for an end to faith schools. It wasn’t heard because conference ran out of time but the subject is now firmly back on the agenda.
Hank Roberts from Copland Community School in Brent, north London, said the overriding aim of the NUT should be “the establishment of a single, community comprehensive state education system because this is uniquely the best system to support anti-racism and deliver equal opportunities for all.”
He believes that religious education and philosophy should continue to be taught in schools, but argues that “religious groups, of whatever faith, should have no place in the control and management of schools.”
Christine Blower, the union’s acting general secretary, said: “Faith schools can’t be fully promoting social and community cohesion if their prime responsibility is only to select pupils of a particular faith.”
But the Reverend Jan Ainsworth, chief education officer for the Church of England, hit back. He said: “Schools with religious character are popular with students, parents and staff. This call is out of tune with public opinion on the valuable role schools with religious character have within a state education system that values diversity.”
Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, said: “Schools have a legal duty to promote community cohesion but it is doubtful whether this can be achieved while many have discriminatory admissions criteria which segregate children on the basis of religion.”
