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Legislation to pave way for more faith schools in Britain

Hindu Voice UK, March 2006

 

In recent weeks the long standing debate regarding the role of faith schools has once again hit the headlines, as the Government has announced education reforms that will pave the way for many more state-funded faith schools in Britain.

Out of the 22,000 state-maintained schools in this country, about 7,000 are faith schools. The vast majority are Christian. There are also more than 30 Jewish schools, a few Muslim schools, one Sikh school and a Hindu school about to open.

Experts are divided on the role of faith schools. Critics have charged faith schools with promoting division. Government plans to give such schools greater control over admissions have also aroused fears of greater segregation by faith or other criteria. Many believe that faith based schools should not be created at taxpayers expense.

On the other hand, it has been shown that faith schools generally perform better academically. And many religious minded parents see a school based on their own faith as being more likely to impart values to their children.

The new legislation paves the way for private sector organisations to take over existing schools. In practical terms this means that the running of many existing schools will be taken over by religious organisations. For example, the Slough council has recently allowed the Lea Infants School in the Wexham area of the town to be converted into an Islamic faith school. Over 60% of the school's 670 pupils are Muslim, and the government agreed to award a whopping £9million for the conversion.

Meanwhile, in a Feb. 22 statement, representatives from Britain's major faith communities signed a declaration that faith schools should be committed to supporting the National Framework for Religious Education, which says that faith schools should teach all of the major world religions, not just the religion affiliated to the school.

In the joint statement, the leaders said that teaching about a range of faiths would enable children to "develop respect for and sensitivity to others, in particular those whose faith and beliefs are different from their own."

The faith leaders said: "We believe that schools with a religious designation should teach not only their own faith but also an awareness of the tenets of other faiths. We are fully committed to using the framework in developing the religious education curriculum for our schools and colleges."

Critics have pointed out that the declaration is non-statutory and therefore non-enforceable, and that no standards are set up to monitor the way in which other faiths are portrayed. The way in which a faith school portrays other religions than its own, could actually do more harm than good if not regulated.