The issue of faith schools will not be easily resolved and with some of the main players entrenching and strengthening their own positions, ATL is advocating a ‘best-fit’ solution within the current context. We believe that the right kind of question at this time (to paraphrase the theologian Miroslav Volf) is not about how to achieve the final reconciliation but what resources we need to live in peace in its absence.
Therefore ATL believes:
• that new criteria should be developed for all faith schools which contain core curriculum requirements;
• that faith schools should have flexible and reviewable admissions criteria which take account of school and local needs
• that the primary aim of faith schools (expressed through their mission statements and practices) should be to educate pupils as responsible and compassionate global citizens with the skills and knowledge to question and understand the world around them and to respect the beliefs, cultures and opinions of others, with the promotion of the faith group as a secondary mission.
ATL calls for these and the other measures outlined in this paper to be carried out by faith schools, religious groups and relevant state bodies, within a structure of accountability and support, with clear links between levels of funding, rights received and the evidence of efforts made and progress achieved towards community cohesion and a broad education for all pupils.
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- 14 - 17 January, 2009
BETT 2009 - UK
