The Accord Coalition, an association of both secular and religious groups campaigning to make state funded schools inclusive for all children regardless of their or their family’s religion or beliefs, has today published a new resource of personal testimonies and media reports which highlight a wide variety of discriminatory practices employed by state schools.
Examples highlighted include:
- a child living 100 yards from a faith school being refused entry due to being of the wrong denomination
- Unitarians self-defining as Christian being denied a place at a Church of England school because the school did not consider Unitarians to be Christians
- a head teacher being forced to leave a Catholic school because the school considered his remarriage to be against its religious tenets
- school teaching its pupils that gay people should be celibate
In July Accord launched a 46 page databank of contemporary evidence and research by independent academic sources about the implications of current policy on state funded faith schools and their practices.
The new portfolio now compliments the databank by providing real life examples of overt discrimination and unnecessary practices by schools that fail to properly respect the religious or non-religious beliefs of children, their families or staff.
Chair of the Accord Coalition, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain MBE said ‘Since Accord launched in 2008 we have become aware of numerous media reports and been contacted by many people telling us about their experience of exclusive and narrow practice by schools, and almost always faith schools.
‘Although these news items and personal testimonies are highly subjective and are not subject to academic scrutiny, we have produced the portfolio to help show that exclusionary practices by schools are not dry or hypothetical, but represent a real issue that negatively impacts many people in the education system.
‘The portfolio makes for disturbing reading and emphasises the pressing need for changes in how our state funded schools operate.’
Notes
Accord’s databank and portfolio can both be accessed at http://accordcoalition.org.uk/research/
Among the wide range of findings in Accord’s databank was evidence showing that faith schools:
- only achieve better exam results due to the different social and ability profile of their pupil intake
- admit fewer than average pupils in receipt of free school meals and with special education needs
- are less representative of their local community and suffer from worse homophobia than non-faith schools
The databank also points to the positive effect of mixed schooling upon the growth of mutual understanding and improved community cohesion.
Great work. I will be passing this on to my MP.