Thousands of children are languishing in unregistered faith schools.
These schools prioritise fundamentalist religion over the education and welfare of children.
The scandal of unregistered schools must be addressed.
Some religious institutions operate schools which are not registered with the Department for Education, despite this being a legal requirement.
Schools are left unregistered to avoid regulations and inspections, so they can teach a very narrow, religion-based curriculum without oversight. This severely limits children's future options, as children leave these schools with very poor literacy, no formal qualifications and no skills or experience for life in modern Britain.
The lack of scrutiny also presents major safeguarding concerns. Children have been taught in unsafe conditions and subjected to physical punishment in these schools. The curriculum may also teach extremist, regressive and discriminatory dogma.
In 2019, Ofsted estimated as many as 6,000 children were being educated in unregistered settings. But the number could be even higher. Approximately 86,300 children and young people were electively home educated nationally during the year 2019/20. There is little regulation of home education, so many of these children could in fact be attending an unregistered school.
Some unregistered schools exploit loopholes in the law to avoid registration and operate at the margins of the law as an "out of school educational setting". Although many out of school settings, including tuition centres and supplementary schools, provide an excellence service, a minority put children's welfare at risk.
We are working to end the harms caused by unregistered schools by campaigning for greater powers for Ofsted tackle these settings, the elimination of loopholes to force more schools to register, and improved regulation of elective home education.
Take action!
1. Suspect an unregistered school? Report it!
Unregistered schools are illegal and pose a serious threat to children's wellbeing. If you think you know of a possible unregistered school, please report it to the schools inspectorate Ofsted.
If you are aware of children in imminent danger, please call 999 and inform the police.
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
3. Join us
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
Islamic school stays open after telling government it was closed
Posted: Thu, 24 Oct 2019 11:29
An independent Islamic school which refused access to inspectors has remained open despite telling the government it had closed, a report from the education watchdog Ofsted has revealed.
In a report published on Monday, Ofsted said "the available evidence" suggested Islamic Preparatory School Wolverhampton was still operating when inspectors visited the site on 25 September.
The inspection took place two days after the school's head informed the Department for Education (DfE) that the school had closed.
Pupils were seen entering and leaving the building during the inspection. Ofsted said the school was providing 11 pupils with 16 hours of education per week, and it was "likely the pupils receive the majority of their education at this school".
The report also revealed that:
- Ofsted's lead inspector was denied entry to the school during the visit. The school's head, Rashid Raja, had also refused to allow an inspector on to the premises during a visit in February.
- Inspectors were unable to check whether the school had a suitable safeguarding policy, despite the fact they found "several hazards" in the school during the February visit.
- The proprietor claimed the school was only providing tuition, so did not need to be registered or inspected.
National Secular Society head of education Alastair Lichten said:
"This is an extraordinary reminder of the lengths some religious groups will go to in their attempts to deny children a decent education.
"The government must ensure this school is closed. And those who run schools without appropriate registration or who refuse to allow inspectors to enter schools should be prosecuted.
"Allowing religious schools to operate without oversight leaves children with no guarantee that they will be kept safe or prepared for life outside insular religious communities. Religion must not be above the law."
Notes
- Refusing entrance to school inspectors contravenes Section 110 of the Education and Skills Act 2008, which provides inspectors with the right of entry to any school to carry out a lawful inspection.
- The school was rated 'inadequate' in all areas during the February inspection.
- The school is now listed as closed on Ofsted's section of the gov.uk website.
NSS backs home school register to protect child rights
Posted: Fri, 21 Jun 2019 16:19
The National Secular Society has given its backing to a registration system for children who do not attend state-funded or registered independent schools, in a bid to tackle illegal faith schools and safeguard children's rights.
In a response to the government's 'Children not in school' consultation, the NSS stressed that all children's educational rights must be protected, irrespective of their religious background.
The consultation sought views on proposed legislation to establish a register maintained by local authorities of children not attending mainstream schools and duties on parents and the proprietors of certain educational settings.
The proposals would require the registration by local authorities of children who are home educated or for other reasons not registered at state-funded/registered independent schools.
The NSS said it was essential that local authorities can gather accurate information to enable them to exercise their statutory duties related to safeguarding children's welfare and ensuring they receive a suitable education.
It said registration was a "minimal imposition" in order to ensure elective home education (HME) is not used as a cover for unregistered and illegal religious schooling.
The NSS has for many years been at the forefront of raising awareness of the thousands of children kept out of mainstream schooling for religious reasons, who then end up in illegal, unregistered schools where they often receive only religious instruction.
At many unregulated faith schools, students are required to study religious texts, such as the Quran the Talmud and Torah, with secular studies such as Maths, English and science sidelined or not taught at all.
Pupils in unregistered Jewish yeshivas and Muslim madrasas are often schooled in squalid conditions with and a lack of safeguarding. Since 2014, more than 50 safeguarding alerts, including concerns of abuse or neglect, were raised at schools not registered with the government, according to the BBC.
Growing public concern over illegal schooling prompted the establishment Ofsted's unregistered schools team, which has identified more than 500 suspected illegal schools operating in England, educating thousands of pupils, over the past three years. A fifth (21%) were religious schools, including 36 Islamic, 18 Jewish and 12 Christian schools.
Earlier this year the NSS passed a file containing a number of known unregistered schools in the Stamford Hill area of London to the Department for Education.
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said: "Illegal faith schools are responsible for some of the most egregious infringements of children's human rights. It should be a matter of national embarrassment that so many children are being left to languish in illegal religious schools that leave pupils hopelessly unprepared for anything other than life in an insular religious community.
"All children should enjoy the right to a decent education that leaves them equipped for adult life and fully able to integrate themselves into society.
"We therefore welcome measures to help councils identify children in unregulated settings and intervene where necessary. Registration should not be seen as an expression of suspicion against families who choose to home educate, but an essential and routine mechanism for protecting children's rights."
Proposals for a compulsory register of home-schooled children are also being backed by Ofsted and the Children's Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield who has said was "vitally important that we know that all children are safe and that they are receiving the education they deserve to help them to succeed in life."
