the values foundation for faith and families in education
London
In the United Kingdom various providers have always been able to run their own
schools, whether via the maintained or independent sector. This has enabled many
faith and other groups to establish and run schools which appeal to different
cohorts throughout the country. In England, all schools registered with the
Department for Education need to comply with regulations and guidelines which
are based on legislation and current educational thinking. Schools are inspected
and regulated by Ofsted – a non-ministerial department of the UK Government.
Since the 2010 Equalities Act, and more recently the Children and Social Work
Act 2018, the Department for Education has revised their regulations and
guidelines in such a way that challenges foundational religious beliefs and
traditional family values. It is very clear that Ofsted and the Department for
Education are focused on promoting an agenda whereby “all protected
characteristics are equal, but some characteristics are more equal than others”.
Simultaneously there has been a calculated and concerted effort by secular
humanist organisations to not only investigate and undermine practices in faith
schools, but to attack the bedrocks of convention and belief that are the
cornerstones of schools who promote faith and traditional family structures. The
current challenges in education threaten human rights including the freedom of
parents to choose the education they wish for their child.
