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News, Blogs & Opinion
Religion continues to cause disruption in 'Trojan Horse' schoolsNews | Wed, 15th Oct 2014 A school placed in special measures following the Birmingham 'Trojan Horse' affair has received 100 letters from parents requesting that their children be withdrawn from collective worship, it has emerged. The revelation came in a report from Ofsted following a special measures monitoring inspection of Oldknow Academy – one of the schools involved in the 'Trojan Horse' scandal. Nothing in the report suggests why the requests have been made, and the school itself has not revealed why. However, according to the report "plans have been started to ensure that assemblies and personal, social and health education (PSHE) create opportunities to foster an appreciation of, and respect for, different faiths and cultures". It is believed that some parents are opposed to these new measures. Two weeks ago, police had to be called to another school, after a head teacher was confronted by a group of parents who objected to elements of the PSHE syllabus. Prior to the Trojan Horse investigations, Oldknow Academy held two Islamic faith assemblies each week and optional Friday prayers. Birmingham City Mission had been delivering Christian Acts of Collective Worship at Oldknow, once a term, but these were cancelled, as was the academy's Christmas special assembly. It has also emerged that a visit to Saudi Arabia had recently taken place for pupils and staff, despite a similar trip last year receiving criticism from inspectors due to failures in safeguarding. Trustees were not aware of the trip and had reportedly been misled by senior leaders at the school that the visit had been cancelled. The inspection report, which has been sent to the Secretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan, says it is difficult to indicate ways in which the academy had changed for the better since the previous inspection. Ofsted inspections of a further four schools placed into special measures following concerns about a hard-line Islamist takeover found little improvement. According to its Monitoring Inspection Report under Section 8 Education Act 2005, Park View School has done little to "discourage segregation and to encourage boys and girls to sit together in lessons and share opinions and ideas". At Saltley School, it was claimed that some staff "segregate themselves into groups based on their religious beliefs" and this has not yet been addressed by senior teachers. At Golden Hillock School, religious education GCSE students have to "teach themselves for options other than Islam", putting them at a "significant disadvantage". There was an example of a supply teacher conducting an RE lesson that was "not part of the school's religious education curriculum", with senior leaders of the opinion that "aspects of the lesson appeared to promote an inappropriate Islamist ideology". In a letter to the Education Secretary, Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw said "too much poor practice remained unchallenged during the summer term". A spokesperson at the DfE said the Ofsted reports were "a snapshot" and that it expected "rapid and effective" change from the new leadership teams. Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns manager, commented: "Pupils are now paying the price of successive governments promoting the idea that schools are legitimate places to seek to instil particular religious beliefs in children and young people. "Untangling religion from schools is not going to be easy, but it is necessary if we are to ensure that our publicly funded schools provide a broad and balanced education in an environment that is inclusive and equally welcoming for all pupils." | |
Ofsted denies ‘bullying and traumatising’ Jewish pupilsNews | Tue, 14th Oct 2014 Ofsted has denied claims that it acted inappropriately after an association of Orthodox schools accused it of leaving young girls "traumatised" following a school inspection. The National Association of Jewish Orthodox Schools (NAJOS) said it was "appalled" at reports that inspectors has asked female students how babies are made and whether they knew that two men could marry. Last year the National Secular Society uncovered evidence of questions on human reproduction being censored on GCSE science exam papers at Yesodey Hatorah – an Orthodox Jewish state secondary girls' school in London. A NAJOS spokesperson told Jewish News that three schools had received surprise inspections in recent weeks, including a school in Manchester, where most of the complaints are believed to have originated. NAJOS expressed "grave concerns" after other headteachers reported that girls "felt bullied into answering inspectors' questions" and the pupils and staff were left feeling "traumatised and ashamed". In a statement the Association said: "Ofsted inspectors have been asking pupils inappropriate and challenging questions, many of which fall outside the religious ethos and principles at orthodox Jewish faith schools." However Ofsted's Chief Operating Officer HMI Matthew Coffey denied the charge of inappropriate questioning, saying: "Inspectors must ask questions which probe the extent to which pupils are prepared for the next stage in their education, or employment, or for life in modern Britain." He added: "I am sorry if these questions seemed insensitive or offensive. Inspectors use age-appropriate questions to test children's understanding and tolerance of lifestyles different to their own." "Ofsted is not looking for answers to questions which are contrary to their faith, simply that they are able to express views which are neither intolerant nor discriminatory towards others. This is vital if we are to make sure young people are ready for life in modern Britain." Jonathan Rabson, director of NAJOS said the organisation feared Ofsted's approach suggests a "shift in policy towards faith schools". In a letter to both Ofsted and Nicky Morgan, Secretary of State for Education, the organisation argued that Jewish were schools are being "disproportionally targeted" and that "Jewish values and ethos are being questioned by inspectors in a climate of hostility designed to unsettle the pupils at member schools". However, Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns manager, said it was an encouraging sign that children's independent interests were at last being given the recognition they deserve. "Particularly in religious schools, the rights of the individual can get lost in the forced homogeneity of 'community' and 'cultural' identities – and for too long, the education some young people receive has been compromised by religious communities enforcing their own values and traditions on children", said Mr Evans. He said it was particularly important that young people's sexual and reproductive health rights aren't compromised when scientific facts are incompatible with the ethos of particular schools. "Children are entitled to be taught about these issues as part of a broad and balanced education. A failure to do so leaves them ill-equipped for life outside of a religious community. That should not be allowed to happen in any British schools". | |
NUS rejects motion on Iraqi/Kurdish solidarity citing ‘Islamophobia’News | Wed, 15th Oct 2014 The National Union of Students' National Executive Committee (NUS NEC) has rejected a motion condemning the Islamic State and endorsing solidarity with the Kurds and Iraqi people after opponents branded it "Islamophobic". The motion, which had previously been adopted by NUS Scotland, was proposed by Daniel Cooper, a member of the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC), and co-written by Roza Salih, a recent graduate of Kurdish descent who is the Vice President Diversity & Advocacy at Strathclyde University's student union. Opposition to the motion was spearheaded by Malia Bouattia, the NUS's Black Students Officer. In his report of the Committee meeting for the NCAFC for the, Daniel Cooper wrote that the motion had been blocked "for astonishing and bewildering reasons". According to Mr Cooper, Ms Bouattia claimed that the motion was "Islamophobic" and "pro USA intervention". Clause 4 of the motion explicitly argued against US military intervention. Mr Cooper said that he was unable to counter these claims as the debate was moved on after only one round of speeches. Mr Cooper claimed that "there is a stranglehold of "identity politics" on the student movement." And that "This is an issue which needs to be discussed in more depth, but essentially the idea is widespread that if a Liberation Officer opposes something, it must be bad." Responding to Mr Cooper's article, Ms Bouattia and other members of the NUS NEC wrote: "We stand in complete solidarity with the Kurdish people against the recent attacks by ISIS and join many others in condemnation of their brutal actions. In doing so we recognise that condemnation of ISIS appears to have become a justification for war and blatant Islamaphobia. This rhetoric exacerbates the issue at hand and in essence is a further attack on those we aim to defend. "The NUS Black Students' Campaign will be working with Kurdish students and the International Students Campaign to raise this issue within the NUS. A motion will be taken to the next NUS National Executive which truly reflects the situation. This motion will pose a condemnation of the politics and methods of ISIS as well as unequivocal support for the Kurdish people. It will in no way pander to Western imperialistic intervention or the demonisation of Muslim peoples." Ms Bouattia's stance was backed by fellow NEC member and Labour councillor for Ockendon in Thurrock Aaron Kiely. In a tweet, since deleted, Mr Kiely wrote that her "amazing" speech had challenged the "Western, racist narrative around 'ISIS'". The failure by the NUS to adopt the motion has been widely criticised online, including by the Tab, a national student newspaper and by members of a Kurdish solidarity group which held an anti-Isis protest in London last week. Kurdish groups in Iraq and Syria have been heavily involved in fighting against Isis or the Islamic State. The majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslim, with significant minorities being Shia Muslims, Yarsani, Yazidi or Zoroastrian. This is not the first time that the NUS and student unions have been criticised for using accusations of 'Islamophobia' to block policy motions. Last year the NUS supported controversial guidance from Universities UK which endorsed gender segregation at events when a speaker requested it to conform with "his" religious beliefs. Universities UK later withdrew the guidance after the Equality and Human Rights Commission said it was potentially unlawful. The NUS NEC also supported a motion banning the anti-extremism group Student Rights from campuses. A number of individual student unions have also voted to block motions condemning gender segregation on campuses. At the University of Edinburgh students supporting a motion on grounds of gender equality were accused of 'Islamophobia'. | |
Secular conference created a sense of imminent and momentous change – and women will be the driving forceOpinion | Wed, 15th Oct 2014 The passion of feminist secular activists from around the world at a recent conference has inspired Terry Sanderson, who chaired a panel on religion's role in the state, law and politics. Last weekend's conference organised in London by Maryam Namazie and her colleagues wasn't like any other conference on secularism I've ever been to. It was a truly international event that made everyone there feel that they were engaged in a momentous worldwide call for change. It was just a start, but the passion generated was the kind that can move mountains. To start with, there was a majority of women among the 250 delegates. They had come from all over the world, bringing with them some horrific stories of suffering at the hands of religion. Many speakers from Muslim backgrounds told of the persecution and discrimination and the sometimes heroic resistance to it. Wherever there is theocracy it seems there is also resistance. Individuals and groups, very often women, very often religious themselves, who are seeking to create a secular space where they and their communities can be free to make their own choices and exercise their own beliefs. It was right that women were the dominant presence at this conference, for it is women who are the most numerous victims of theocratic regimes. As was pointed out over and over by one speaker after another it is women who are enslaved and made subservient in these societies, women who are made to don restrictive clothing, women whose freedom of movement is most curtailed, women who must suffer the violence and intolerance of arrogant clergy. And here we were surrounded by extraordinarily courageous women who were prepared to stand up and protest, and sometimes put themselves at risk of imprisonment or worse for their efforts. At times over the weekend I feared what the consequence of their dissent might be. In some of these fascistic religious countries human life seems cheap. Those who dare to defy the authorities are disposed of as if they were nothing. One speaker, told us she experienced some nerves before her speech – on women, religion and the religious-right. The last time Magdulien Abaida spoke at a conference in Benghazi it was interrupted by members of Islamist militia group who subsequently abducted her from her hotel room. We were told of the people who had been murdered, tortured, silenced and had their rights removed just to enable religious hegemony to continue. Some women recounted the way that men, in the name of their faith, sought to control every moment of female lives – what women eat, when they eat, what they wear, who they can love, how they can love them – even how they go to the toilet. With this level of control, women cease to be functioning human beings and become little more than sex slaves and baby-making machines. The conference confronted us with these horrors, not just as statistics, but as human faces – real women with real tears, but also with real courage and a determination to bring change. Over and over the point was made the secularism could mitigate some of this suffering. Human Rights could replace oppression and fear. But none of these ideals could be achieved without democracy, without the will of the people to effect that change. When someone asked me how many truly secular countries there were in the world, I struggled to get beyond single figures. And I made the point that secularism should not be regarded as a cure-all. It will not stop sectarianism, it cannot dissuade theocrats from seeking power (and using force to gain it, if necessary). Secularism has to be freely and willingly embraced by the people and that can only be done in a framework of true democracy. Our job is to persuade people of the value and brilliance of secularism so that they will embrace it when they are asked. This is a massive job that will have no end, but we should promote the adoption of secularism wherever we can. Whether that is in our national governments, our local authorities or our shared institutions. Religious leaders will never give up their power willingly. The people have to politely show them the door and tell them to return to their churches and mosques and temples and to stay there. Only then will the terrible suffering that women have to endure under religious rule be alleviated. At some time in the future all women will be able to participate in the world on an equal basis as men, and secularism is what will make that happen. Terry Sanderson is the President of the National Secular Society. The views expressed in this article are those of the speaker and do not necessarily represent those of the NSS. |
Read Elsewhere
 | Ignore the PR, the Catholic Church continues with its grotesque homophobia | Pink NewsSuggestions the Catholic Church has changed its position on gay people are wide off the mark, writes National Secular Society President Terry Sanderson. |
 | Secular societies fare better than religious societies | Psychology TodayMany claim that religion is necessary for social order or cohesion. However comparative national and international studies indicate a correlation between decreased religiosity and increased indicators of social goods. |
NSS Speaks Out
NSS President Terry Sanderson gave an interview to the freethinking political-social TV magazine Bread and Roses. He talked aboutthe link between secularism and the struggle for gay rights – and whether gay rights are possibility in Iran or the Middle East. The show is broadcast in Persian and English across Iran and the Middle East via New Channel satellite TV.
Terry also chaired a panel session at the International Conference on the Religious Right, Secularism and Civil Rights held in London on 11-12 October.
NSS executive director Keith Porteous Wood argued for the motion: "Are faith schools detrimental to society?" at a debate at King's College Cambridge. An overwhelming majority of students appeared to support the motion.
NSS campaigns manager Stephen Evans gave was interviewed by the BBC about a new proposed new school from a church linked to beliefs about witchcraft and was also quoted in an Economist article on religious exemptions from equality laws.
Quotes of the Week
"It seems obvious that militant religion is a radical reactionary force. In whatever form it comes, it grinds down on women's rights and denies the basic freedoms of liberal society."
Nick Cohen, the Guardian
Essays of the Week
Religion, employment and teaching: The staff and their souls
(Erasmus blog, the Economist)
"We are all Kobane": rallying cry of resistance against fundamentalism
(Caroline Fourest, co-founder of the journal ProChoix [feminist, anti-racist and secularist], Huffington Post)
Secular conference London 2014: the religious-right, secularism and civil rights
(John Sargeant, Homo Economicus)
Upcoming Events
London Black Atheists 2nd anniversary and Black History Month party
Sat, 25th Oct 2014
A ‘New Magna Carta’?
Thu, 4th Dec 2014
