State Funded Faith School in the UK Restrict Social Cohesion and Ethnic Integration - Case Study Example

Funded Faith School in the UK Restrict Social Cohesion and Ethnic Integration funded faith schools are schools that possess some elements of religious character. Despite some of the recent claims that faith schools are boosting academic performance of many students, the schools have increasingly faced significant controversy due to their discriminatory admissions and employment policy which is widely believed to be antithetical to social cohesion and ethnic integration. This paper argues that state funded faith schools restrict social cohesion and ethnic integration, and should therefore be abolished. State Funded Faith School in the UK Restrict Social Cohesion and Ethnic Integration Introduction In the United Kingdom, the term state funded faith schools is normally applied to the schools that teaches the general curriculum but have some formal links with particular religious characters or organizations. There are currently a diverse number of types of state funded faith schools in the United Kingdom some of which include voluntary controlled schools, voluntary aided schools and faith academies. Although state funded faith schools are mostly run like the other state schools in the UK and are subjected to the same curriculum apart from religious studies, they are free to only teach their religion (Gibbons and Olmo, 2006: 72). Faith schools generally give priority to the applicants who belong to the faith of the school and are allowed to do that by some of the specific exemptions found in the section 85 of the UK Equality Act 2010 (Equality Act, 2010: 1). However, the law requires state funded faith schools to admit other applicants in line with the school admissions code whenever they are unable to fill all their places with the applicants who belong to the faith of the school. In the recent past, unfair discriminatory admissions and employment policy of most faith schools has yielded considerable controversy due to its potential negative impacts on the social cohesion and ethnic integration. Recent History of Faith Schools in the UK Although faith based schools have existed in the UK throughout the ages, the recent history of faith schools in the country dates back to the year 1944 following the passage of the 1944 Educational act that resulted from the negotiation between Archbishop William Temple and the then education Minister, R.A Butler. The Act particularly created a unified framework under which church schools were brought under state control but left with considerable independence including their right to determine their own selection criteria or receive financial support from the church (Mackinnon and Statham 1999:110). The Local Education Authority (LEA) schools were consequently named county schools; church schools became voluntary schools with the latter being of two main types namely ‘Aided’ and ‘Controlled’ schools. Aided schools are state controlled but they provide their own premises or meet some maintenance costs and have a degree of control. On the other hand, controlled schools provide their own premises but have all their running costs met by the government agencies concerned with religious education. According to Brooksbank and Ackstine (2004: 17), the term “faith schools” was particularly introduced in the UK in the year 1990 after calls by the Muslim community to be allowed to have institutions similar to the existing Christian church schools. The 1998 School Standards and Framework Act also significantly impacted on the faith schools in a number of ways including changing the names of county schools to community schools. However, legislation currently varies between different countries of the UK as education is currently devolved. Analysis There are a number of perceived values of having faith schools that may be used to explain the continued existence of state funded faith schools in the United Kingdom. For example, according to Annette (2005), faith-based schools are largely intended to help students to develop knowledge and ability to exercise informed choices regarding their personal lives. Regardless of the particular content associated with a given syllabus, the faith-based schools constantly integrate sex education into the framework of a religious understanding that pertains to sex plus human relationship that puts more weight on the significance of a faithful marriage as the superlative framework for sex. In addition, the government’s constant recognition of the function of the governing bodies, coupled with discussions with the students’ parents, has helped in judging the content that best fits such lessons thus serving as an encouragement to the faith-based schools. Further, the few parents who do not wish that their children form part of the lessons centered on sex education are often left free to detach their children from the said lessons. Despite some of the recent claims that they are boosting academic performance in the United Kingdom, faith schools have recently faced a number of controversies particularly due to the sheer discrimination in their admissions and employment of staff. Generally, this is particularly attributed to the fact that many faith schools are currently granted exemptions under section 85 of the UK Equality Act 2010. The equality laws were primarily meant ensure that the UK schools do not discriminate against pupils and students on the basis of their religion or beliefs. However, the faith schools in the UK are currently permitted to give priority in admissions to the applicants who belong to the faith of the school, or the children whose parents practice the school’s religion when the faith schools are oversubscribed. The discriminatory admissions policy practiced by most faith schools is not only unfair but is also likely to be antithetical to social cohesion and ethnic integration in the United Kingdom. According to experts, the exemptions that allows faith schools to give priority in admissions to the applicants who belong to the faith of the school, or the children whose parent’s practice the school’s religion has in numerous occasions disadvantaged the local children of the ‘wrong religion’ and those whose parents are non religious. For example, many parents have complained that they are often unable to send their children to their local state schools due to their lack of religious beliefs. As the number faith schools particularly the academies run by religious organizations continue to increase, the issue of admissions is likely to become more controversial. Many people also argue that allowing faith schools to run their own admissions criteria contrary to the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 may potentially result in the increased backdoor selection of middleclass children at the expense of other equally qualified applicants of the wrong religious, ethnic or economic backgrounds. The continued existence of the faith-based schools within the UK has aroused varied opinions among different people. Fellows who support the faith-based schools do claim that the schools encourage fairness and justice for parents, children plus the religious communities; encourage social cohesion along with the integration of the minority communities whilst supplying a positive response towards racism and providing high-quality education. Gibbons and Olmo, 2006: 39). Contrastingly, opponents of these schools identify factors like presentation of narrower scope of faith and division of the society based on faith as issues that restrict social cohesion and ethnic integration. Discussion and Argument There are a diverse number of reasons why faith schools should be abolished in the UK particularly with regard to their restrictive effects n social cohesion and ethnic integration. Many critics of faith-based schools say that the schools restrict the pupils’ personal freedom through presentation of a narrower scope of a specific faith; they sow division and discord in the community by separating individuals belonging to varied religious plus non-religious backgrounds; their move to employ selection approaches that cream off superb pupils plus pupils from families that are more financially endowed renders other schools disadvantaged (Grace and OKeefe, 2007: 88). However, the unpleasant practices that the opponents keep referring to are not in any way intrinsic to the faith-based schools alone. Every school should be charged with the duty to encourage social justice including tolerance to disparity in religious backgrounds, knowledge regard religions, unique thinking, ability to criticize constructively and promotion of interaction and dialogue between pupils of varied background. On the other hand, faith schools have also been permitted to discriminate in employment on the basis of the religious backgrounds of the applicants and this may negatively impact on both social cohesion and ethnic integration. For example, many teachers from the wrong faiths or ethnic backgrounds have increasingly found themselves blocked from particular positions in the faith schools purely on religious or ethnic grounds. This means that qualified and suitable teachers will continue to be unjustly discriminated against in the faith schools if these schools are allowed to continue. Generally, every school has the duty to encourage community cohesion. This is better illustrated by the move by the Church of England to join other main faith-based schools inside England to sign a common vision to promote community cohesion using schools that bear a religious character in September 2007 (Chapman et al., 2014: 110). In this agreement, the government plus the religious groups assured the community of their commitment to constantly work together to implement bridges to more improved mutual trust, to enhance the life chances of children and to lead to a cohesive and just society. On the same note, the missions were to be accomplished regardless of whether the involved schools had a religious character. The faith-based schools deem it best to teach children about main faiths that are represented within the contemporary U.K alongside bearing a significant foundation in the beliefs and faith-related practices that pertain to Christian life. It is in this light that the religious education syllabuses covered in the faith-based schools have been bearing the multi-faith outline while requiring students and pupils to gain knowledge of six or more main world faiths. McKinney (2008:46) contends that the latest non-statutory Framework for RE is already reinforcing this requirement. With regard to the effects of faith schools on ethnic integration, one of the negative impacts of faith schools on social cohesion and ethnic integration is the schools’ segregation. School segregation formally takes different dimensions; these varieties of schools segregation involve the division of faith schools in relation to class, ethnicity as well as social segregation. Seemingly, the governmental restrictions on social cohesion and ethnical integration have exclusively led to a decline of the voluntary preservation of the community. Every issue to deal with social cohesion and integration by these schools is left to the policy makers and implementer hence very little is being done to consider the overall implication of a divided education. Secondly, lack of responsibility by the government to implement social cohesion and guideline’s to the later; faith schools are divided in numerous ways. Some of these schools still select students on the basis of ability. Other schools unconditionally divided by locations or an expressed preference for subject by the government. Most systematically experienced inhibitor of free choice within faith schools is that of faith- and the vast majority of faith schools are supported by the state; hence the government must accept the responsibility for social cohesion and integration restrictions. People of no faith are ultimately excluded form about a quarter of faith schools due to lack of responsibility of either the government or these schools to fight social cohesion and ethnical integration restriction. In addition, the religious identity often overlaps with ethnic identities. This is to mean that faith schools effectively exclude some of the minority communities hence directly contribute to the ethnic segregation. The exclusive attribute of the minority groups from these schools negatively affects their ethical and ethnical modes of operations. Ethic segregation emerges as one of the negative issues affecting faith schools operations in a socially and ethically stable manner. Ethnic segregation as a restrictive issue affecting operations of faith schools has overly led to social unrests and poor community cohesion. Ideally, the ethnic segregation in England’s schools is quite high. The segregation is much higher on the pupils of Indian or Bangladeshi pupils for example, more than pupils with black Caribbean or Afro-American heritage. Virtual apartheid is experienced among the faith schools which have in the recent past hindered unification of England community as one society. Additionally, ethnic segregation has ultimately polarization; an effect that is concomitantly blamed on the emergence of faith schools in England. These schools have negatively failed to prepare students for life in a multi-ethnic society full of racial tensions hence negatively involved in the embracing of social cohesion and ethnic integration negatively. Conclusion In conclusion, state funded faith schools should not be allowed in the UK because of their widespread discrimination that restricts social cohesion and ethnic integration. Despite some of the recent claims that they are boosting academic performance, the discriminatory policies of faith schools in admissions and employment are wholly unjustifiable and should no longer be permitted in a secular, multicultural and democratic society like that of the United Kingdom. In order to enhance greater social cohesion and ethnic integration, a comprehensive and inclusive educational system that values and serves all pupils equally with no regard to their religious, social and economic background should be developed. References Annette, J. (2005). Faith schools and communities: communitarianism, social capital and Citizenship. London: Routledge. Berkeley, R. (2008). Right to Divide?: Faith Schools and Community Cohesion. London: Runnymede Trust. Brooksbank, K., Ackstine, A. (2004). Educational administration. Harlow: Councils and Education Press. Equality Act (2010). legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved on December 26, 2014 from http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents Gibbons, S., Olmo, S. (2006). Faith Primary Schools: Better Schools or Better Pupils? CEEDP 72.London: Centre for the Economics of Education. Grace, G. R., & OKeefe, J. (2007). International handbook of Catholic education: Challenges for school systems in the 21st century. Dordrecht: Springer. Mackinnon, D., Statham J. (1999). Education in the UK: facts and figures (3rd edn). London: Hodder and Stoughton/Open University. McKinney, S. J. (2008). Faith schools in the twenty-first century. Edinburgh. UK: Dunedin publishers. Read More