A number of new, 100% religiously selective Catholic state schools in England have already been planned by the Catholic Church, despite the fact that no official decision has been made by the Government on the future of the 50% cap on religious selection. Humanists UK, which leads the national campaign against proposals to remove the cap and against all religious discrimination in admissions more generally, has described the plans a ‘premature’ and ‘arrogant’.
Currently, religious ‘free schools’ in England must leave at least half of their places open to all local children, irrespective of religion or belief. This so-called 50% cap on religious selection was introduced in 2007 by Labour, then extended in 2010 by the Coalition, and is designed to boost integration in schools while improving equal access to taxpayer-funded schools. Despite the evidence demonstrating that it has been hugely successful in achieving these aims, the Government proposed to drop the cap, principally due to pressure from the Catholic Education Service (CES), which has not opened a new state school since 2010 in protest.
Former Education Secretary Justine Greening was understood to have reconsidered the proposals following extensive campaigning by Humanists UK and its supporters, but the new Education Secretary Damian Hinds suggested last week that the Government is now likely to go ahead after all.
But even with no official decision made, at least eight new, fully segregated Catholic schools have been planned at taxpayers’ expense. In details reported in Schools Week, the Catholic Diocese of East Anglia reveals plans for a state secondary in Cambridge, a state sixth-form college in Norwich, and six state primary schools across East Anglia. Separately, the CES has suggested that it has plans to build as many as 50 new Catholic state schools across the England as a whole.
Following reports at the weekend that the Education Secretary is likely to drop the cap after just a month in the role, Humanists UK has called for a parliamentary inquiry into how the ‘demands of the religious lobby can come to be prioritised over the rights of children and parents’.
Humanists UK Education Campaigns Manager Jay Harman commented, ‘That the Catholic Church is willing to dedicate resources to planning new schools when no official decision has been made displays an alarming confidence, even arrogance, in its influence in Whitehall. These plans are obviously premature.
‘This religious lobbying is inappropriate in and of itself, but it is made intolerable by the fact that it is likely to lead to a huge expansion of religious discrimination and segregation in the education system. That’s why we’ve called for a parliamentary inquiry and have urged the DfE to consider its decision extremely carefully.’
Notes
For further comment or information please contact Humanists UK Education Campaigner Jay Harman on jay@humanists.uk.
Read Humanists UK’s previous news item ‘Humanists UK calls for parliamentary inquiry on faith school admissions cap’: https://humanists.uk/2018/02/21/humanists-uk-calls-for-parliamentary-inquiry-on-faith-school-admissions-cap/
Read Humanists UK’s briefings on the 50% cap:
- Religious lobbying on the 50% cap – https://humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016-11-17-BHA-briefing-Religious-lobbying-on-50-per-cent-cap.pdf
- General briefing: 50% cap on religious selection – https://humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/FINAL-Briefing-on-50-religious-selection-cap.pdf
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