Following the announcement today that the Government will be legislating to make all state funded schools in England academies, the Accord Coalition has urged for urgent reforms to Religious Education (RE), school inspections, and for special safeguards to be put in place to uphold the character of community schools that join faith Academy chains.
Chair of the Accord Coalition for Inclusive Education, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, said ‘We witnessed in Birmingham a group of non-faith schools that thought it was permissible to cater for only those of a specific background and to reinforce that identity to the exclusion of others – a culture that faith schools helped validate. It is vital that the Government reassures the public that there will be no mono-religious infiltration into the governance of schools that currently serve pupils of all religion and beliefs equally – both to make sure any community schools that join faith academy chains maintain their open outlook and inclusive character, and that extra freedoms academy schools receive are not misused.’
‘As a matter of urgency, all schools should again be inspected by Ofsted on how they promote community cohesion, while the current conflict of interest whereby faith schools choose who inspects their provision of RE and assemblies should be brought to end, and instead all state funded schools should face the same inspection regime. If all schools become academies then continuing with the current arrangements where local authorities determine RE syllabuses does not make sense, and so the Government should also heed the many calls to make RE a nationally determined subject, so ensuring balance and breadth.’
There are currently a lack of safeguards to ensure that the character of a community school is protected if it joins a faith academy chain. It is possible in such circumstances for future Governors and some senior staff to be appointed on account of whether they adhere to the same religion as the chain, and for the breath of the curriculum and assemblies provided to narrow, so that greater reverence is made towards the beliefs of the chain. Accord is also concerned that such community schools could assume a religious character, such as by simply listing as having one in the independent schools register. This would enable the school to openly select by faith in pupil admissions and in the employment of all teachers. Currently maintained schools can only become a faith school if the Secretary of State for Education agrees to formally designate the school as having a religious character.
High quality RE can play a major role in improving the growth of mutual understanding, but the subject suffers from operating under broadly the same arrangements since 1944. It is currently in the anomalous position of being the only compulsory subject in state funded schools in England and Wales that is not part of the National Curriculum. Most schools, including some faith schools, follow a locally agreed RE syllabus produced by their local authority responsible for education.
RE at non-faith schools has declined, in part due to local authorities reducing their support for RE due to budgetary constraint, and due to fewer and fewer schools having to adhere to the local RE syllabus in the first place. A November 2013 survey by the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education found 26% of schools did not provide RE at Key Stage Four, at all, and 12% did not provide RE to all students at Key Stage Three. Academies can determine the RE syllabus they provide, meaning that academy faith schools are not required to teach about other religions or beliefs, and can present the school’s faith as objective truth.
Ofsted’s last three triennial reviews into the teaching of RE in English schools have recommended that the Department for Education should review the statutory arrangements for the subject. Last summer’s ‘A New Settlement: Religion and Belief in Schools‘, by former Education Secretary Charles Clarke and Prof Linda Woodhead, urged for RE to be a made a nationally determined subject and for Ofsted to be given ‘a strong inspection system’ (p65) to ensure all state funded schools are again inspected on their duty to promote community cohesion.
