The Accord Coalition has launched a local campaign initiative to stop religious discrimination in the pupil admissions of voluntary controlled faith schools. Voluntary controlled faith schools comprise of over a third of state funded faith schools in England and Wales and, unbeknown to many, can have their admissions made inclusive by their local authority.
An amendment seeking to retain Ofsted’s duty to assess the contribution that schools make to community cohesion has been rejected by the Government, despite widespread support from both Government and Opposition benches.
The provision of places at non-faith schools on the Isle of Wight is to be maintained following a successful local campaign.
The Accord Coalition has today sent a briefing to members of the House of Lords urging them to retain Ofsted’s current duty to inspect on how schools promote community cohesion.
The Accord Coalition hosted its second fringe meeting of the Party conference season at the Labour Conference in Liverpool on Wednesday (September 28th), where the topic of whether religion in Education leads towards greater division or inspiration was discussed.
