The Values Foundation For Faith And Families In Education

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.