BHA: Academies Bill: Government's rush to create new 'faith academies' will create religious divisions in school system

Monday, 19 July 2010 12:00 AM

The Academies Bill risks 'permanently entrenching religious segregation in the school system', the BHA has commented today. The BHA has made its comments ahead of the first debates on the Bill in the Commons today and following a poll which finds a large majority of the public are concerned about religious Academies.

An ICM poll commissioned by the BHA found that 72% of the public are concerned that the Academies Bill could lead to taxpayers' money being used to promote religion. The figure includes over a third (35%) of the public who said that they were "very concerned". The poll also found that 67% think religious Academies should be required to teach pupils about other beliefs, including non-religious ones.

BHA Head of Public Affairs Naomi Phillips said:

'Before MPs have had a chance to debate the Academies Bill, the government has already stated that it has no plans to prevent creationist teaching in its new "faith" Academies, citing its desire to free schools from prescriptive curricula. This is remarkable given the fact that it is nonetheless requiring all of its new Academies to teach RE and hold daily acts of collective worship.'

'The reality is that new religious Academies will be able to discriminate against children and staff on religious grounds, excluding those of the 'wrong' or no religion. It will prevent many existing "faith schools" from ever becoming inclusive and could expose children to extreme religious views, including creationism.'

'The results of our poll show that there are widely shared concerns about the government's new "faith Academies". Time and time again parents tell us that they want an inclusive local community school for their children. By rushing this Bill through Parliament the government risks permanently entrenching religious segregation in the school system, against the wishes of parents, teachers and local communities.'

Over 300 'faith schools', including a number of fee-paying schools, have already registered their interest in taking on Academy status. Religious Academies and 'free schools' created by the Bill would be free from local authority control, allowing them to teach their own curriculum, set their own admissions and employment policies and change the lengths of terms and school days. The government is protecting the privileges that "faith schools" currently enjoy to allow them to discriminate on religious grounds and some schools may even be allowed to discriminate more against teachers, non-teaching staff and in admissions than they are currently permitted to.

The BHA's concerns are outlined in detail in its briefing for MPs on the Bill, ahead of this afternoon's "second reading" of the Bill in the House of Commons.

Notes

Over 1000 BHA supporters have already contacted their MP to express their concerns about the Academies Bill.

For further comment or information, contact Naomi at naomi@humanism.org.uk or on 020 7079 3585.

Read the BHA's briefing for the Commons Second Reading of the Academies Bill http://www.humanism.org.uk/_uploads/documents/BHABriefing-AcademiesBillCommons2ndReading-07-10.pdf.

Read the full results of the poll http://www.humanism.org.uk/_uploads/documents/BHAICMpollonreligiousAcademies.pdf

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