Proposal to scrap faith selection cap is “a green light to social division”

Commenting on the speech by Theresa May this morning on schools policy, which confirms that the Government wants to scrap its rule preventing faith free schools from not selecting more than half of their pupils by faith, Chair of the Accord Coalition for Inclusive Education, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, said ‘If, as the government claims, the modest 50% religious discrimination cap at faith free schools has not been effective in promoting religious and ethnic mixing in schools, then this should ring alarm bells and prompt stronger action, not less and removing the tools of integration.

‘In a country that is becoming increasingly diverse, this is exactly the wrong time to give faith schools the power to divide and segregate children. There is a strong argument for extending the 50% religious admissions cap to all schools, not abolishing it. The Government proposal will give a green light to yet more ghettoisation in its school system.

‘One can be both in favour of faith yet also want to encourage integration, which is why in mid-July a letter was sent to Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening signed by 68 Rabbis, urging her not to abolish the 50% cap “so that the children at those schools can have both a sense of religious roots and openness to others”.

Notes

Dividing children creates a divided society

As Accord has previously set out, the academic evidence base consistently shows that ethnic mixing in schools provides a major and positive contribution to the growth of trust and integration. In contrast, ethnic division between schools is often found to acerbate community relations. The Government commissioned ‘The Cantle Report’ (2001), which investigated causes of race riots in Oldham and other towns in Northern England that year, found ethnic segregation in the local school systems undermined cohesion and cited some faith schools as helping to perpetuate such division via ‘… operating discriminatory policies where religious affiliations protect cultural and ethnic divisions’.

England and Wales are unusual in allowing any discrimination in state funded faith schools

A 2012 study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showed that the UK was one of only a very few OECD member countries that permit religious selection at state schools (table 2.3 p15). Research by the Accord supported group, the Fair Admissions Campaign (FAC), reinforces this finding. The OECD identifies the Republic of Ireland, Estonia and Israel as having religiously selective state funded schools. In some Canadian provinces there are publicly funded Catholic schools that can refuse admission to non-Catholics before high school. The FAC is also aware that in Germany, a small number of private religious schools receive state funds and can religiously select. In the Netherlands, private faith schools that receive state funding can loosely require pupils and parents to support the mission/vision of the school. But we are not aware of any other countries. Countries with strong religious traditions, such as Italy, Spain and Poland, do not have religious discrimination in admissions to any state-funded schools.

Catholic Church boycott of free schools programme is a political tactic lacking pedagogical justification

The Catholic Church in England and Wales is boycotting the free schools programme in protest at the 50% faith selection cap. This is despite most of the Church’s private schools – like many state funded Catholic schools in other countries – not selecting pupils by faith, and with some state funded Catholic schools operating successfully with a significant proportion of non-Catholic pupils. The 2015 Catholic school census finds that (only) 68.8% of pupils at its state funded schools were counted as Roman Catholic, decreasing to 37.1% at its private schools.

The religious selection cap for faith free schools was introduced in the summer of 2010. Almost all new schools opened in England since 2010 have been free schools (an academy school that does not replace a pre-existing state funded school). In July 68 Rabbis wrote to the Government urging that the 50% cap be retained.