CYP Now - Policy & Practice: Policy into practice - Faith schools must be included to be inclusive

In January David Bell, the chief inspector of schools, in a speech at the Hansard Society, warned that faith schools "must not put our coherence at risk" and that there needs to be a clear teaching of tolerance at these schools.

With the debate around faith schools still raging and very much on the election agenda it is clear that schools can and do play a big part in the moral guidance of their pupils, but the question is: are faith schools a divisive mechanism, or can they meet the needs of the wider community?

Recently the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, criticised the way education focuses on testing and results, putting pressure on parents unable to look after the moral growth of their children. With nearly 7,000 faith schools in England, approximately 300 of these independent fee paying schools, many of these parents are opting to have their children attend a faith school where morality and citizenship can be taught within a religious framework.

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