Should we have faith in faith schools?

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It is a religious imperative to allow your children to mix with people of all faiths and backgrounds whilst at school, according to the chair of the Accord Coalition.

Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain was speaking at the Accord Coalition's fringe event at Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, ‘Should we have faith in faith schools?' run in partnership with the British Humanist Association.

Coming from a religious perspective the Rabbi told the fringe "schools should be about education, not indoctrination".

He spoke of his belief that we "should not divide children".

"Ignorance can lead to prejudice, and that can lead to inter-communal hostility," he said.

John Banks, former head of education at the National Union of Teachers and now a visiting professor at the Institute of Education, although not against faith schools, asked the question: "Would we need faith schools if all schools catered effectively for different faith groups?"

Agreeing with the concerns of the Rabbi, Andrew Copson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association spoke of his three top fears with faith schools; admissions policies, religious education syllabus and employment.

"I can't see why it is necessary for a financial administrator at a Catholic school to be a committed Roman Catholic, but I have never seen an advert for a Bursar at a Catholic school that has not asked for this," he said.

It was widely acknowledged by the panel that most state schools tend to be academically more successful than for example your average community school.

According to Andrew Copson this demonstrates the overwhelming fact that faith schools "can and do discriminate in admissions policies".

Regarding the recent Academies Act the panel showed great concern as to the impact this will have on the future of religious schools.

"Half of the total applications for the new free schools are for religious schools," said the Rabbi.

"They see this as a wonderful opportunity to set up a school outside of the normal regulations."

Article Comments

What place should faith schools have in our society?
http://www.blog.voicetheunion.org.uk/?p=1530

Voice the union
5th Oct 2010 at 9:07 am

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