Tories and the Church speak out in support of discriminatory faith schools

Just days after a Tory Minister confirmed the Government’s commitment to expanding the number of state-funded faith schools, the Archbishop of Canterbury has made a statement in support of allowing schools to discriminate in their admissions including on religious grounds.

Despite a front page interview in The Times newspaper today where he seemed to support inclusive admissions to faith schools, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has subsequently said: ‘I fully support the current policy for schools to set their own admissions criteria, including the criterion of faith. Nothing in my wider comments to The Times on this subject should be seen as “revealing” any changes nor dissenting from current policy.’ In practice, the Church of England’s policy allows state-funded faith schools to discriminate against children and families on grounds of religion.

Earlier this week, in a speech at Cambridge University, the Tory Minister for Faith, Baroness Warsi, spoke out against secularism and stated, ‘We didn’t just get behind faith schools, we created more. And of our flagship free schools, one in four are faith-based: Sikh, Jewish, Greek Orthodox, Christian, Muslim and Hindu.’

All types of state-funded schools with a religious character are permitted to select in their admissions by discriminating on religious grounds, including the faith Academies and Free Schools. Evidence shows that schools selecting pupils on the basis of the professed faith of the parents are segregating children and young people along religious, socio-economic, cultural, and even ethnic lines.

Naomi Phillips, Chair of Labour Humanists said, ‘Both the Tory-led Government and the Church of England are promoting religious privilege and making an assault on social cohesion and equality through their policies to increase the number of faith schools and to allow them to discriminate in their admissions on religious grounds.

‘Dividing up more and more young people along religious and class lines through selection by the ever-expanding faith schools sector cannot be good for society. It’s time for Labour to take the lead and stand up for a truly inclusive school system.’