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width="1" height="1" //divpReligious schools should be stripped of their right to select pupils
according to faith or lose their state funding, according to a two-year study into church and other
faith-based state schools./ppThe Runnymede Trust charity concludes that many faith schools'
admission procedures are too selective./ppThe sector educates a "disproportionately small" number
of children from the poorest backgrounds, it says./ppThe trust, founded to promote social justice,
says this contradicts the historical mission of faith schools to challenge poverty and inequality
and serve the most disadvantaged in society. "Currently the intake of faith schools is wealthier
and higher achieving on entry to secondary school than average," the report states./pp"If faith
schools become a means of preserving privilege rather than challenging injustice, then this
undermines their espoused vision of 'lived faith'."/ppThe report into the way faith schools operate
in England, based on interviews with more than 1,000 people over the past two years, calls for
faith schools to be forced to return to their original mission to education the poor. Religious
education, covering all religions, should become part of the national curriculum, it argues. It
suggests faith schools should become open to all either by "setting quotas, ballot selection or
emphasising catchment areas over faith affiliation"./ppThe proposals, launched at a conference
yesterday, will reopen the debate over the role of faith schools and whether they are too
selective./ppThe government yesterday published a new admissions code designed to prevent covert
selection after the chief schools adjudicator last month reported that one in five faith schools
had asked improper questions on application forms, including about parents' jobs. /ppThe proposals
make clear that schools cannot interview pupils or ask parents for financial contributions. But
schools will be able to require parents applying for a place to ask their children to "respect" the
school's ethos./ppUnder the code authorities must consult with parents and the community to make
sure their arrangements meet local needs. They will also have to improve the information parents
receive on the admissions process. A new appeals code will allow MPs and councillors to support
parents at admission appeals hearings. /ppThe schools secretary, Ed Balls, said: "It is my
intention that the measures set out in this revised code will ensure parents are listened to and
their views shape school policies, he said./ppRob Berkeley, the trust's deputy director and author
of the report, said: "It's time for a shift so that schools that are funded by taxpayers are
responsive and reflect the needs of all pupils and parents, not just those of a particular
religion."/pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia
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Recommandations
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and reject those that you are not interested in
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