Parents’ religious wishes must not trump children’s safety and education

Posted: Thu, 20 May 2021 12:07

Every child has been withdrawn from sex education classes at an independent faith school. Megan Manson says the parental right of withdrawal is incompatible with children's right to an education that keeps them safe.

This article is available in audio format, as part of our Opinion Out Loud series.

School inspectors recently concluded that leaders of an independent Orthodox Jewish faith school had "fulfilled their statutory responsibilities" regarding sex education – despite no children at the school taking any sex education classes.

According to its Ofsted report, Ateres Girls High School in Gateshead allows for sex education to be taught but all parents have withdrawn their children from these classes. That's nearly 250 teenage girls who are missing out on sex ed.

It is almost comical that Ofsted can consider this school to be fulfilling its duties to provide sex education when none of its pupils are actually studying it. But the implications of this are no laughing matter.

Sex education and the law

The requirement that all schools teaching secondary age pupils must provide sex education is relatively recent. It's thanks to the implementation of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, intended to promote the welfare and safeguarding of children.

The fact that this act includes a legal duty for schools to provide relationships and sex education (RSE) tells us something about the importance of RSE in keeping children safe.

Department for Education guidance further illustrates how sex education is, first and foremost, a form of safeguarding. According to the guidance, sex education should include information about contraception, pregnancy and abortion, sexually transmitted infections, LGBT+ orientations, abuse and violence within relationships, and where to get further advice on all these issues. This is all essential to prepare teenagers for adult life and to make sure the relationships they form are healthy and happy.

However, the Children and Social Work Act also requires that parents be given the right to request their child to be withdrawn from sex education. This is to accommodate parents, usually from conservative religious backgrounds, who object to their children learning about sex, even in an age-appropriate manner and in order to keep them from harm.

This is why Ofsted is technically correct about Ateres Girls High School. On paper at least, the school appears to be providing sex education. But the parents have en masse decided to exercise their right to bar their children from sex ed classes. To what extent the school has influenced this decision is unclear; the Ofsted report said the school's policy "anticipates that parents are likely to withdraw their child".

The parental right of withdrawal has therefore rendered Ofsted powerless to ensure pupils receive sex education.

The case for ending the right of withdrawal

What happens when teenagers aren't given access to sex education? A recent report from Jewish counter-extremism group Nahamu revealed some of the dire consequences.

The report identified the lack of RSE as a key factor in forced marriage within Charedi ('ultra-Orthodox') Jewish communities. Charedi communities are notoriously insular and highly controlled by religious leaders. Access to information, be it via television, newspapers, the internet or books, is strictly limited.

Nahamu highlights that Charedi Jews typically marry young after a very short engagement and may not be made aware of the sexual aspects of marriage until the run up to their weddings. They may not understand the concept of consent or be able to recognise dangers such as domestic abuse or marital rape. This is why the report recommends that all RSE programmes, including in independent faith schools, include information about forced marriage.

But this is of little use if parents are able to withdraw their children from sex education. And as Nahamu makes clear, young people in conservative religious communities who are the most likely to be withdrawn from sex education are those who are in the greatest need of these classes.

Children from conservative Christian, Muslim and other religious backgrounds may also have this information withheld at their parents' wishes, and they too are vulnerable to issues around abuse and unhealthy relationships.

It is notable that while Ateres Girls High School did not fail its inspection in terms of sex education, it did fail to meet equality standards by refusing to teach about LGBT+ orientations. This too is a serious problem. Nahamu's report highlighted that the "total exclusion" of reference to LGBT+ people in Charedi communities means that LGBT+ Charedi Jews "face additional challenges and very serious issues of consent".

It is also common sense to make sure all young people are aware that LGBT+ people exist. Imagine being a teenage boy in a conservative religious community growing up to realise you are attracted to other boys rather than girls. Unless you're aware that homosexuality exists and that it is quite normal, completely harmless and nothing to be ashamed about, this could be a terrifying ordeal with serious mental health implications. It is also important for schools to challenge stigmatising and discriminatory attitudes that pupils may hold.

For these reasons, teaching about LGBT+ people is not optional – there is no right of withdrawal from this part of the school curriculum. In this case, the government has decided the right of pupils to an education that prepares them for adult life in the 21st century trumps the desire of communities to censor information about LGBT+ orientations for religious reasons.

Independent schools, religious or not, should retain greater freedom than state-funded schools over the content and delivery of their curricula. However, that freedom should not come at the cost of putting pupils' welfare at serious risk. Depriving young people, especially those in insular communities, of information about their own bodies and healthy relationships makes them extremely vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and entering marriages that they regret for the rest of their lives.

The right of parents to withdraw children from sex education is in direct conflict with the right of children to learn about a key facet of adulthood and how to protect themselves as they grow up. It's time for the balance of these rights to be shifted towards the children. All young people, whatever their religious or cultural background, should be given genuine and unconditional access to objective, inclusive and age-appropriate education about relationships and sex.

Image: © palidachan/Shutterstock.com.

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Independent school still not teaching about evolution after warning

Posted: Fri, 14 May 2021 15:09

An independent faith school which was recently subject to government regulatory action after being found teaching creationism as science has failed a further inspection.

In January it was revealed that Bnois Jerusalem Girls School, a Jewish school in north London, had been given a statutory notice after it failed to meet standards in multiple inspections.

And this week an Ofsted report has revealed that "teaching about the scientific theories behind the origins of life" was still "completely omitted" at the school during an inspection in March.

The report also said the content of the school's secular curriculum "remains narrow" and pupils were "not allowed to talk about" same-sex relationships or gender reassignment "at any time".

The school's previous failings have included teaching creationism in geography and science and failing to enter pupils for exams at GCSE level because leaders were not allowed to censor exam papers.

Poor report for Lubavitch Senior Boys' School

Meanwhile another independent Jewish school, Lubavitch Senior Boys School in north London, has been given a similarly poor report in an additional inspection.

The school had previously been told it devoted insufficient time to secular studies. In the new report inspectors said leaders had made "no progress" in improving "the breadth of the secular curriculum" and the range of subjects taught remained "very narrow".

NSS response

The National Secular Society wrote to the government last year to raise concerns over children's rights at several independent faith schools which had repeatedly failed inspections, including both Bnois Jerusalem and Lubavitch Senior Boys.

The NSS has now written to ministers again to ask them how they plan to respond.

NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said: "Schools which substantially restrict their secular curricula, including in some cases by refusing to teach about evolution, are failing the children they serve and should be held to account.

"Ministers should take robust action to protect children's educational rights. They must ensure schools can't simply defy reasonable oversight."

Statutory notices and follow-up

Independent schools that are issued with statutory notices are required to submit an action plan for improvement, and are then monitored more tightly than other schools.

That process can ultimately lead to a school being removed from the register of independent schools, meaning it can no longer legally operate.

Legal position on creationism in schools

Legal standards allow independent schools to teach creationism as part of a belief system, but also say "it should not be presented as having a similar or superior evidence base to scientific theories".

Failings in independent faith schools

In 2020, 80 independent faith schools were given warning notices – a less severe penalty than a statutory notice – after failing inspections.

Common failings at these schools have included gaps in secular education, failing to teach about LGBT+ people and safeguarding issues.

All pupils withdrawn from sex education at independent Jewish school

Posted: Wed, 12 May 2021 16:59

Every parent has withdrawn their child from sex education classes at an independent faith school with nearly 250 pupils in Gateshead, an inspection report has revealed.

The latest Ofsted report for Ateres Girls High School, published on Tuesday, said "all parents have exercised their right" to withdraw their children from the teaching of sex education.

Ateres Girls is an Orthodox Jewish independent school for girls aged 11-16, with 246 pupils on roll.

However, the report said leaders "have fulfilled their statutory responsibilities regarding the teaching of relationships, health and sex education," because the school had allowed for sex education to be taught by "an external provider from within the Jewish community".

Relationships and sex education

According to the report, the school consulted with parents about the content of sex education lessons and informed them that they could withdraw their children from them.

The sex education policy "anticipates that parents are likely to withdraw their child", the report said.

All parents withdrew their children following the consultation.

Equality issues

The school failed its inspection because pupils are not taught about sexual orientation or gender reassignment and consequently are "not being prepared fully for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life in British society".

The school was rated as 'requires improvement' in its previous inspection in 2019 as it refused to allow pupils to be taught about LGBT people. It was issued a warning notice as a result in 2020.

Schools are required to promote equality and pupils' understanding of the protected characteristics which are outlined in equality law.

Forced marriage in Jewish communities

In February a report from Jewish counter-extremism group Nahamu highlighted how a lack of relationships and sex education (RSE) contributes to forced marriage in Charedi ('ultra Orthodox') Jewish communities.

It said the lack of RSE in Charedi schools means engaged couples may not be prepared for sexual relations, may not understand consent, and may not recognise abusive behaviours.

It also said the exclusion of any reference to LGBT+ people in Orthodox Jewish schools means LGBT+ people in Charedi communities face "very serious issues of consent" when presented with a universal expectation of early, heterosexual marriage.

NSS comment

National Secular Society head of policy and research Megan Manson said: "It is alarming that a school where no pupils are receiving sex education can be considered to be meeting statutory responsibilities to provide RSE. It risks setting a precedent that renders the standards used to regulate independent schools meaningless.

"With the problem of forced marriages in Orthodox Jewish communities increasingly coming to light, it is increasingly important to ensure all children, regardless of their parents' religious background, have access to age-appropriate, objective and inclusive RSE."

Image by Pexels from Pixabay.

Progress towards inclusive integrated education in NI is still too slow

Posted: Thu, 6 May 2021 14:45

The last few months have seen mixed successes in efforts, supported by the No More Faith Schools campaign, to move towards an integrated and inclusive education system in Northern Ireland.

In positive news the Department of Education has approved transformation proposals from two controlled (de facto Protestant) schools. Glengormley High School, in Newtonabbey in County Antrim, will become a new integrated school around September 2022. Carrickfergus Central Primary School will become a new integrated school around September 2021.

This follows the news last month that Seaview Primary, in Glenarm in County Antrim, has been the first Catholic maintained school approved to become integrated. The integration of these schools will bring together children from all religious backgrounds and none, and represent a significant step forward in a country where 93% of children are educated in de facto segregated schools.

Recent riots in several towns and cities across the country again highlighted the urgent need to bring different communities together, and schools are an effective way to do this. The people of NI understand the damages and inefficiencies of a segregated education system. Their demand for a better integrated alternative is loud and clear across all communities. Eighty-six per cent of parents at Carrickfergus, and 95% of parents at Seaview, supported the proposals.

Successful integration campaigns are worth celebrating. But the current education system, controlled by religious sectoral bodies, is unable to respond to these demands in anything more than a frustratingly inconsistent and piecemeal way.

Last month we reported that the Catholic St Mary's High School, Brollagh's transformation to integrated status had been rejected, despite 73% parental approval. It's now been joined by Ballyhackett Primary School, whose proposal was rejected, despite 69% of parents supporting it.

The principal of Ballyhackett PS, Grainne McIlvar, is quoted by the Integrated Education Fund (IEF) as saying: "We are devastated at the minister's decision, and bitterly disappointed." And that "this is a real blow in our efforts to educate children from different religious backgrounds together".

Meanwhile last month the consultation on a proposal by the OneSchool Global Network, asking for two of its Plymouth Brethren run private schools to become state funded, ended. The Education Authority in Northern Ireland has already indicated that it will not support the proposal.

This proposal is completely unsuitable, particularly given the extremely insular nature of the Plymouth Brethren. However, as long as the vast majority of schools are divided between the Protestant and Catholic communities, calls will increase for other minority religious groups to also be given their own schools, further fragmenting the education system.

The IEF and NI Council for Integrated Education (NICIE) have spotted one opportunity to make the case for change. They are currently calling on supporters to help highlight the important role of educating children together, in a consultation on the draft content of the European Union funded PEACE PLUS Programme (2021-2027). The programme, worth approximately €1bn, aims to promote the model for successful cross-community work. Breaking down the educational barriers must surely be a high priority.

The dominance of religious interests in the education system also goes beyond the official faith affiliation of schools.

A private member's bill proposed by Chris Lyttle, an Alliance MLA, is currently aiming to extend protection from religious discrimination to teachers. Again, the public overwhelmingly supports this change, but the divisions between different sectoral bodies, school types and approaches make it difficult.

Earlier this month the Raise Your Voice (against sexual harassment) coalition published an open letter calling for "the urgent introduction of compulsory, comprehensive and standardised relationships and sexuality education (RSE) in schools throughout Northern Ireland". This is a widely supported and overdue reform.

But the four largest churches have argued against this. They want to continue, through their sectoral bodies, ensuring that any RSE in schools fits with their religious ethos, particularly around information (or the lack thereof) on LGBT issues and contraceptives. Similar concerns have frustrated any efforts to bring in a modern pluralistic and non-proselytising religious education curriculum.

On all these issues the status quo puts the churches' interests ahead of those of Northern Irish society. But politicians should ensure schools across NI bring children together regardless of their families' religious identities.

This should be their priority as they approach a major independent review of education provision in NI. As I've previously argued, this is an excellent chance to take a stand for inclusive education. And with widespread public support for significant changes, the Stormont elections due in a year may also help to focus politicians' minds.

It is time for politicians from all communities to get serious about addressing the divisions and damage caused by the religious privilege inherent in NI's schools.

Faith groups have no business inspecting schools

Posted: Fri, 30 Apr 2021 09:03

Publicly funded school inspections which enable clerics to exert undue influence should have no place in a modern education system, argues Stephen Evans.

In a 21st century school system, should faith groups have the authority to inspect schools to determine whether the education they provide is sufficiently religious?

Most people will be familiar with England's school's inspectorate, Ofsted – or its equivalents in Wales and Scotland, Estyn and Education Scotland. These bodies inspect schools to provide information to parents, to promote improvement and to hold schools to account for the public money they receive.

But many people won't be aware that these aren't the only school inspections required by law.

Around one third of state-funded schools are faith schools. These schools are subject to additional inspections by religious bodies. The inspections are mandated by Sections 48 and 50 of the Education Act 2005. Their purpose is to evaluate the religious aspects of school life – denominational religious education, worship and the overall approach to promoting a religious ethos.

You might think that ongoing secularisation and the decline in the church‐going population would give rise to a corresponding decline in religion's involvement in state‐funded education. Instead, successive governments have bolstered religion's influence over state schooling by funding ever more faith schools.

Section 48 inspections are yet another mechanism for religious groups to exert control and influence children's education. They ensure organised religion remains a powerful force in education at both state and community levels. The inspections are used by faith bodies to pressure school leaders into ramping up the religiosity in schools. They influence decisions about the way in which education is provided and the environment in which it is delivered.

School leaders are more qualified and better placed than religious bodies to make these decisions. They understand their school communities better than anyone, and will usually be keenly aware that, unlike a church congregation, their pupil intake is far from religiously homogenous. Few families choose schools on the basis of their religious character, and many parents have little option other than a faith school. Yet religious inspection regimes coerce schools into acting like places of worship.

Now a new National Secular Society report has made the case for ending these inspections.

The report highlights numerous examples from school leaders of inspections being used to "sell the Church of England message", as one teacher puts it. The Catholic Church itself says the inspection process is intended to ensure schools "fulfil their mission of making Christ know". This is state-funded evangelism, plain and simple.

Take this Section 48 inspection report where a Catholic school in Birmingham is judged as "outstanding" for being "innovative in the way it uses the internet to evangelise"; gives staff, pupils and governors "many opportunities to pray"; and delivers relationships and sex education in a way that is "consistent with the teachings of the church".

In other words, the school is praised for inculcating children into the Catholic faith – rather than giving them the freedom to make up their own minds about their beliefs, or giving them the education they need about relationships and sex.

A key role of these 'religiosity inspections' is to assess the school's religious education. If religious education is a genuine academic subject, it should receive the same scrutiny as any other area of the curriculum.

But particularly in faith schools, religious education is too often an exercise in faith formation – a hangover from history more akin to confessional 'religious instruction'. The justification that Section 48 inspections are needed to assess RE provision tends to prove this point.

Teaching about religion or belief in schools should be objective, critically-informed and pluralistic. And like any other area of the curriculum, it should be inspected by Ofsted.

The purpose of education should be to develop critical faculties. But religiosity inspections are all about ensuring schools promulgate faith and impose acts of worship on pupils. This is all educationally inappropriate.

Even in an education system that includes faith schools, such extensive clerical meddling shouldn't be permitted, let alone funded with public money.

Yet the taxpayer stumps up £760,000 every year to fund inspections that serve the interests of religious groups, rather than pupils.

Britain is becoming more non-religious and more religiously diverse. It needs a secular education system that educates children of all faith and belief backgrounds together and enables children to make up their own minds about their beliefs.

And if we are going the cut the archaic connection between religion and state education, bringing an end to religion's role in inspecting schools would be a good place to start.

This blog is also published on Medium.

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Scrap religious groups’ inspections of faith schools, says report

Posted: Tue, 27 Apr 2021 15:49

Inspections of state-funded faith schools which are carried out by religious groups are inappropriate and should be scrapped, a report from the National Secular Society has said.

The NSS, which coordinates the No More Faith Schools campaign, has published Religiosity inspections: the case against faith-based reviews of state schools today.

No More Faith Schools campaign coordinator Alastair Lichten said the report "exposes the impact and costs of faith-based inspections of state schools".

"This is just another way state funding of faith schools puts religious interests before those of children and society.

"Ending these religiosity inspections would be a welcome step towards reducing religious control of our schools. And this should be a reminder of the need for an education system free from religious control, privilege or discrimination - and for the rollback of faith schools."

You can read more in the NSS's news story on the report or read the report on the NSS website.