end SACREs, modified percentage of non-religious (50-62) and percentage of faith schools (30%)

Proposer
andrewedmondson
State

Rejected

Vote Score

0

Age

3272 days


@andrewedmondson edited manifesto/education.md - almost 9 years ago

Secular Schools

50% of the British public identify as having no religion, and this number is growing[^1] but over half of all state funded schools have a religious character[^2], including over 4,500 Church of England schools. It has been demonstrated that faith schools are religiously selective, excluding those of other or no faith[^3].

50% of the British public identify as having no religion[^1], and this number is growing [^5] and yet around 30% of state funded schools have a religious character[^2], including over 4,500 Church of England schools. It has been demonstrated that faith schools are religiously selective, excluding those of other or no faith[^3].

Therefore, we will mandate that all state-funded schools be secular in nature.

State-funded faith schools will also lose their exemption to equalities legislation, preventing them from practising religious discrimination in their employment policies.

Religious education (R.E.) will also be reviewed, starting with research on the current state of R.E. and followed by a consultation to include all interested parties on whether to keep R.E., reform it, or replace it.

Religious education (R.E.) will also be reviewed, starting with research on the current state of R.E. and followed by a consultation to include all interested parties on whether to keep R.E., reform it, or replace it with a proper academic subject such as Philosophy, Culture and Belief.

Local RE syllabuses will be replaced by a single national curriculum subject.

Non-religious beliefs such as Humanism will have equal prominence to religious beliefs when drawing up a new syllabus to replace RE.

Scottish authorities will no longer be legally obligated to appoint unelected religious representatives to school boards. Instead, elected councillors will be appointed by a vote of the full council.

We will remove the guidelines[^4] that force teachers to act as counter-terrorism officers and that stifle free speech within the learning environment.

Sex and relationships education

All schools will be required to provide students with age-appropriate unbiased sex and relationships education as part of the national curriculum.

Local Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) to be scrapped

These unelected local advisory groups are responsible for the oversight of Religious Education in the County. They draw up a local RE syllabus. They are inefficient and biased. Most of them exclude non-religious full members. Most local RE syllabuses are biased towards religious beliefs.

philipjohn

@philipjohn - almost 9 years ago

Agree with most of this but where is the 30% figure from?

andrewedmondson

@andrewedmondson - almost 9 years ago

From the BHA. It's approximate. It might be up to 35% but certainly not 50%. The religious character of free schools is not recorded, as far as I am aware.

On 17/04/2015 20:28, philipjohn wrote:

Agree with most of this but where is the 30% figure from?

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/openpolitics/manifesto/pull/325#issuecomment-94058096.

philipjohn

@philipjohn - almost 9 years ago

Okay, but is that more valid than the government figures already linked to, and still referenced but the footnote?

andrewedmondson

@andrewedmondson - almost 9 years ago

No. The British Social Attitudes Survey is the most in depth. However, research has shown that people often state religious affiliation on spurious grounds, e.g. my parents were religious, I got married in a church, I was baptised.

Of course, the phrasing of survey questions is crucial and a very difficult thing to get right.

I think it is safe to say that at least 50% of the population is non-religious.

Delete the 62% reference if you think it is misleading. But it is referenced. Perhaps somone can find a recent independent poll that shows less than 50% are religious? In that case, add this too.

On 18/04/2015 20:08, philipjohn wrote:

Okay, but is that more valid than the government figures already linked to, and still referenced but the footnote?

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/openpolitics/manifesto/pull/325#issuecomment-94192253.

philipjohn

@philipjohn - almost 9 years ago

Okay, forgive me if I'm getting confused, but this is what I see in the proposal...

but over half of all state funded schools have a religious character[^2]

gets changed to

and yet around 30% of state funded schools have a religious character[^2]

So the figure goes from >50% to 30%, but references the same source.

andrewedmondson

@andrewedmondson - almost 9 years ago

Well if you add up the percentages in the source, it comes to around 33.8%.

On 19/04/2015 21:36, philipjohn wrote:

Okay, forgive me if I'm getting confused, but this is what I see in the proposal...

but over half of all state funded schools have a religious character[^2]

gets changed to

and yet around 30% of state funded schools have a religious character[^2]

So the figure goes from >50% to 30%, but references the same source.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/openpolitics/manifesto/pull/325#issuecomment-94311007.

Andrew Edmondson

079 3450 8671 West Sussex Humanists http://www.westsussexhumanists.org.uk BHA logo http://www.humanism.org.uk/

philipjohn

@philipjohn - almost 9 years ago

That percentage excludes academies thought, which are still state funded, which makes the statement inaccurate.