FAITH BASED SCHOOLS

Faith Based Schools

Faith Based Schools

Faith schools have been an important and often contentious element within schooling since the introduction of state education in 1870. The present 'dual system' began when the state supported existing church schools alongside new 'county' schools. Today there are some 6,400 primary and 600 secondary faith schools, about one third of the national total. The vast majority are Christian (Church of England or Roman Catholic), while 36 are Jewish, six Muslim, two Sikh, one Greek Orthodox and one Seventh Day Adventist. The Government is enthusiastic about faith schools: 'We have a long tradition of faith schools in this country. They are popular with parents and make an important contribution to community cohesion.' (DfES in the Guardian 7/5/06). Recent ministerial statements indicate more are on the way. It is this prospect of an increased provision that would include a growth in the numbers of Muslim and Sikh schools that has sparked a new level of criticism. Secular and humanist voices have long argued against the principle of state funded faith schools, but since 9/11 and 7/7 the prospect of a growth in Muslim and Sikh schools is seen by many as a serious threat to community cohesion. To many Muslims and Sikhs the renewed opposition wants to deny them the advantages enjoyed by Christians and Jews and has its roots in Islamophobia and racism.

Faith schools are a particularly British way of accommodating religious diversity. They are not found in the USA, France and Russia where there is strict separation between church and state, resulting in religious schools being considered ineligible for state funding. There are serious arguments against faith schools (see below) but the ethnic and religious tensions currently affecting the USA, France and Russia is an indication that the absence of faith schools is no guarantee of community harmony. The question of fairness is often brought forward as a justification for faith schools. If such schools already exist for Christians and Jews, then why should they be denied to Muslims, Sikhs and other religious groups? However, secularists - who believe that education should be independent of religion - argue that it is not the job of a state-funded school system to instil religious faith in children. They also believe that children should have the right not to be indoctrinated into the faith of their parents.

Religious groups see faith schools as important for sustaining religion, culture, identity and language and for maintaining continuity of belief between home and school; schools are seen as having an appropriate moral ethos and as being free from discrimination by virtue of their religious background and culture. For the parents this means their children are more likely to grow up good Christians, Jews, Muslims or Sikhs, sharing their own deeply held beliefs, participating in community celebrations and living moral and responsible lives. The role of the school in handing on the community identity will be seen to be particularly important where a group feels under threat and marginalized by the ...