What's a Faith School like?

The government now imagines that Faith Schools might take 25% of “non-faith” children. Estelle Morris sensibly wondered on the Today programme yesterday whether they would turn out prove an attractive option to such children and their parents.

I had wondered exactly that over the weekend and had looked around to see what an Islamic Faith School might offer to the average punter (I don’t yet know if Sikh, Jewish, Catholic and other Faith Schools would present the same problems, but I’ll keep you posted.)

One of the best known of these is Feversham College in Bradford, a “Voluntary Aided” secondary school “for Muslim girls” in Bradford. Currently it will admit up to 10% of non-Muslims if there are places available (and won’t be affected by any government 25% ruling, which would only apply to new schools). What would one of these 10% find?

Let me say to start with that this is clearly a very good school with a very good Ofsted report. The problem is that it is not a realistic prospect even for a  broadly pro-Islamic non-Muslim – one who is not likely to be entirely committed to the view (as the school’s mission statement puts it) “that there is nothing or no one worthy of worship other than Allah Subhana Wa Ta’ala (SWT) and that MUHAMMAD Sallallaahu’alaihi Wa Sallam ( SAWS) is the final Prophet and Messenger of Allah (SWT)”.

Dress is only the most obvious of these problems. According to the uniform rules published on the web, all the pupils must wear the hijab, even for PE.  The whole framework of the school day and year is also (perfectly understandably given the Faith agenda)  structured around Islamic worship, which extends far beyond daily prayers: there is an assembly in the morning and (according to the Ofsted report) a call to prayer each lunch time and prayers at the beginning and end of each lesson. Ramadan is observed. My question is not whether this fits the wishes of Muslim parents, or whether there should be the opportunity for Islamic dress and prayers at any school (for me, the jury is still out on that one). It  is whether anyone outside Islam could plausibly integrate.

The curriculum reveals more difficulties. It seems fine enough to take Religious Studies from an Islamic point of view (and for many kids it could be a nice corrective to the pious, slightly liberal Christianity that still infects many RE lessons). Foreign languages are more of an issue. Although the prospectus hints that there might be a little French early in the school, once you get to years 10 and 11, the only foreign language appears to be Urdu. Again, I would dearly love  Urdu and Arabic to be offered in more “mainstream” schools, alongside French, Spanish and (if only . . . ) German. But is this restricted diet really likely to appeal to those outside the faith?

The Blair government has up till now eagerly supported Faith Schools. Their exam results have a good deal to do with that. Feversham does extremely well at GCSEs – and recently had the best “value added score” of any school in the country (measured as the level of improvement between standard at entry and standard at GCSE). Like other Faith Schools it is doing more than its fair share towards the government’s blind race towards educational targets. But here those targets are coming at what could be a devastating cost to multi-cultural integration. Even with their GSCE records, the idea that there is ever likely to be a rush of non-faith kids to these schools is pie in the sky.

Comments

[Mary]

Thanks for that, postblogger.
Ok guys what shall we move onto next..the war? m

[postblogger]

Well, according to the BBC website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6089440.stm), that post seemed to work...

[David Kirwan]

Correct me, someone, if I'm wrong: my memory is not what it was (it never has been), but I seem to recall that when Tony Blair first touted the notion of Faith Schools it was on the grounds that they would instill in their pupils an ethical sense which would make them better citizens. But now we have the prospect of Islamic schools teaching the ethos of separation. This can hardly make for good citizenship and must call Mr. Blair's original assumption into question.

I suspect that what he had in mind was rather the model of the RC grammar school that I attended over forty years ago, where not only where there a number of non-Catholic teachers, but there was a goodly proportion of non-Catholic pupils. But in those days the non-Catholics were all (nominal) C of E, the religious differences where quite imperceptible, and they were in the school by free choice on both sides. Things would be quite different if a strict Islamic school was forced to take non-Islamic pupils (and who would force the pupils to go there?). Or consider the case of a school run by some extreme Protestant sect for whom Rome is the Scarlet Woman of the Apocalypse (I believe such still exist): how would they feel if made to admit Catholic children? And how would the children feel?

[Kevin O'Brien]

Far from attempting to encourage Faith schools to take non or other faith children our government should be asking the question "Why have Faith schools at all?" The whole raison d'etre of faith schools is to instill a particular and narrow ideology into young minds and circumvent free thought. Education should be about facts, untainted by religion. No state funding of any faith schools should be allowed.

[Serafina]

This somewhat reminds me of some Catholic schools back in Italy (where I come from). Nuns have a monopoly on some HE colleges, like teacher training colleges. Limited curriculum? Check - Nietzsche and Marx were not taught in the philosophy class but some guy called Rosmini (you've guessed it, Catholic) was. The history curriculum presented the crusades as rather reasonable efforts to convert the infidels, and the Popes were forces for progress throughout. Dress code? Check - apart from the uniform during school days, girls (did I mention these are girls' schools?) were encouraged not to wear short skirts or make-up. Plus a chapel on the premises and many lecture hours given over to Mass. Now, the funny thing was that all this did not prevent any of those girl students (nor indeed several of the nuns) from smoking, doing drugs, getting pregnant, running away from home/the convent and being ultimately not quite what one would have expected. Maybe we should insert in the reflection on schools the fact that people many times do what they want regardless of what they're told or taught?
I also have a question: surely Lord Truth is some kind of joke?

[Carol A]

Further to Betty's comment: last Christmas I watched a group of young children from the local Catholic school performing Christmas carols, including several little girls wearing the hijab. No-one seemed to think it was out of the ordinary. I (a born & bred C of E) used to visit a Jewish youth group with a friend when I was a young teenager. The only lasting effect of exposure to other religions is more tolerance!

[Robert]

How discreet of you not to point out that Classics looks like a non-starter in this Muslim faith school

[Alex Drace-Francis]

How's about this one: my Yorkshire atheist chums said to their boy's head teacher they don't want him coming in contact with any of that religious stuff. The reply was 'It's only C of E', as if that doesn't count. Sometimes I wonder whether 'religion' isn't actually the stuff we assume is irrelevant and minor, rather than the loudly-proclaimed 'advancement of Allah' stuff. So why is everyone calling it 'Faith' these days? J.C. asked this qu. in his weekly column & no good reason emerged. Religion can be as much about practice as belief, & toleration of other people's practices (see veils) often harder than toleration of beliefs, which usually involves just switching off.

[Betty]

Here in Australia, Islamic schools are a relatively new concept, and not particularly popular with most Islamic parents, who tend to be quite poor, and the schools quite expensive. Muslim boys go to Governmnet schools; but their sisters are very often enrolled in the Catholic System, especially at Primary school. I have no explanation, nor even an opinion. It's just an observation!