Education Regulations and Faith Schools — House of Commons, 2015-03-12
Topic: Education
Fiona Claire Bruce (Conservative, Centre-right): This debate is vital, because dedicated teachers in faith schools across the country are deeply worried. Reports of the approach taken by inspectors, as described by my hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh), in applying these schools standards and regulations has generated such concern that in my view Ministers have a duty to step in to clarify the confusion and allay teachers’ fears A constituent wrote to me, saying that the school and early years funding regulations "will cause many early years providers with faith links to be excluded, or to compromise their teaching for fear of being excluded from receiving funding" In response, an Education Minister wrote: "The Government…does not believe that it is appropriate to fund early years settings that teach creationism as evidence-based scientific fact… Nurseries continue to be free to tell creation stories, provided that they do not assert that these are scientifically based" What exactly does that mean? A nursery school teacher reading the Biblical account of creation has to say to her three-year-olds, "But children, this is not being taught as evidence-based scientific fact." That is absolutely ridiculous. The concern is, however, that for fear of contravening the Department’s requirements, teachers are feeling pressurised into the safer option—as they see it—of not teaching the creation story or any other aspects of the Bible Another confusion concerns the application of the spiritual, moral, social and cultural standards. The Department states: "It is not necessary for schools…to ‘promote’ teachings, beliefs or opinions that conflict with their own" It is important that the Minister confirms that at the Dispatch Box and that there is no requirement to promote other faiths. What is required is actively to promote mutual respect and tolerance of those with other faiths and beliefs. It is the freedom to follow other religions and a respect for that freedom that we should promote. It is entirely right that we should respect other people, including those with other beliefs, and to respect their right to hold those beliefs, but this is being conflated with a requirement to respect all other beliefs, which is quite a different thing altogether I respect Scientologists, but I do not respect Scientology. This confusion is very real. It appears in inspectors’ minds. Her Majesty’s chief inspector of schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw, wrote of schools teaching "respect for…various faiths", making no distinction between the believers and the beliefs. I understand that a Jewish Ofsted inspector has said that Ofsted wants to clamp down on schools that "don’t conform to their ideology" Will the Minister confirm that it is not the intention that the standards should discriminate against any religion or undermine religious freedoms, because that appears to be exactly what is happening That brings us to yet another cause of confusion mentioned already: what exactly are British values? The Department’s consultation on British values—such a major issue—was hurried, mainly over the school summer holiday period, and inadequate. To then require the active promotion of those values by teachers is presumptuous and has contributed to the current confusion. The Church of England, in its response to the consultation on independent schools regulations, expressed concern that there had not been a sufficiently broad public consultation to inform the definition of British values and remains of the view that they are inadequately expressed and that broad public debate is still required. Ministers need to act on such concerns expressed by the Church of England, which oversees almost 5,000 church schools, both primary and secondary Another source of confusion that has been mentioned surrounds the phrase "age-appropriate", with reference to Ofsted inspectors’ questions. We hear of different head teachers reporting pupils variously feeling "bullied into answering inspectors’ questions", distressed, "traumatised and ashamed", and "uncomfortable and upset". As we have heard, a girl in year 11 felt "threatened about our religion". It is a rich irony that, if that is the case, the inspectors’ approach contravenes the very recommendation to respect people that these standards extol. Far from promoting British values, these standards seem to be undermining them A fundamental British value stated in the standard is "individual liberty", yet a teacher from an Orthodox Christian school, whom I have known for more than 20 years, wrote to me to point out that "there are issues of erosion of…freedom" here Ministers need to step in and clarify what questions are and are not suitable for inspectors to ask young children, and how this issue should be approached, so that young people of different faiths can feel comfortable about living out their faiths in today’s diverse society Will the Minister confirm that he and his colleagues will look towards giving clear direction to Ofsted inspectors on these and other issues of concern to ensure that common sense prevails, to clarify what teachers in faith schools can expect when being inspected and to ensure that teachers’ ability to work according to their religious ethos is protected, so that the Department’s statement that "it is not necessary for schools or individuals to ‘promote’ teachings, beliefs or opinions that conflict with their own" is made a reality and not just rhetoric?