Government approves yet more religious Free Schools

9 February, 2016

Continuing its drive to deliver a promised 500 new free schools by 2020, the Government has announced the latest set of Free Schools to be given approval to open from September 2017 and beyond. The list reveals that five new ‘faith’ schools have been approved, a move which the British Humanist Association (BHA) has described as out-of-step with public opinion and antithetical to the Government’s stated ambition of improving integration in the education system.

In total, 22 new schools have been given approval to open, of which five are ‘faith’ schools. They are Hope Community School, a Christian primary school in Kent for 4-11 year olds, Wren Academy, Enfield, which will select 50% of its places to Church of England worshippers, Hujjat Primary School, a Muslim school in Harrow which will also allocate half of its places based on religion, and two further Muslim secondary schools in Manchester, Eden Girls’ School and Eden Boys’ School, both being set up by the Tauheedul Education Trust. Although the total number of Muslim schools remains small – there are currently 21 in England – this most recent ‘wave’ of free schools means that there are now more Muslim schools than ever within the state school system.

The Government’s press release announcing the 22 approvals lauds a number of the schools for their ambition to be ‘inclusive’, ‘open to all young people regardless of their background’, and to ‘promote diversity, tolerance and community cohesion’, comments which are in line with recent Government statements on the need to improve integration in schools, but which are out of step with the continued approval of new divisive and discriminatory ‘faith’ schools.

BHA Faith Schools Campaigner Jay Harman commented, ‘For all its talk of integration, the Government’s response to the increasing diversity of this country has been to establish more and more schools that cater exclusively and discriminatorily for the individual communities that make up our rich and complex array of religions, beliefs, and cultures.

‘This is no way to promote mutual understanding or to encourage tolerance and respect, and it is setting us on a dangerous path to a more segregated future. What we need are more schools that are open to all, that bring all children together, and that celebrate our similarities rather than emphasise our differences. That’s the kind of education system our children deserve, and we will continue to raise with Government our concern that the present approach runs counter to it.’

Notes

For further comment or information, please contact BHA Faith Schools and Education Campaigner Jay Harman at jay@humanists.uk or on 020 7324 3078.

See a full list of proposed and approved Free Schools: https://humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016-02-09-List-of-proposed-Free-Schools.xlsx

Read more about the BHA’s campaigns work on ‘faith’ schools: http://humanists.uk/campaigns/schools-and-education/faith-schools/

The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people who seek to live ethical and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason and humanity. It promotes a secular state and equal treatment in law and policy of everyone, regardless of religion or belief.