Fiona
Bruce (Congleton) (Con): This
debate is vital, because dedicated teachers in faith schools across the country
are deeply worried. Reports of the approach
taken by inspectors, as described by my
hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh), in applying these
schools standards and regulations has generated such concern that in my view
Ministers have a duty to step in to clarify the confusion and allay teachers’
fears.
“will cause many early years providers
with faith links to be excluded, or to compromise their teaching for fear of
being excluded from receiving funding”.
“The Government…does not believe that
it is appropriate to fund early years settings that teach creationism as
evidence-based scientific fact… Nurseries continue to be free to tell creation
stories, provided that they do not assert that these are scientifically based”.
What exactly does that mean? A nursery school
teacher reading the Biblical account of creation has to say to her
three-year-olds, “But children, this is not being taught as evidence-based
scientific fact”. That is absolutely ridiculous. The concern is, however, that
for fear of contravening the Department’s requirements, teachers are feeling
pressurised into the safer option—as they see it—of not teaching the creation
story or any other aspects of the Bible.
Another confusion concerns the application of the
spiritual, moral, social and cultural standards. The Department states:
“It is not necessary for schools…to
‘promote’ teachings, beliefs or opinions that conflict with their own”.
It is important that the Minister confirms that at
the Dispatch Box and that there is no requirement to promote other faiths. What
is required is actively to promote mutual respect and tolerance of those with
other faiths and beliefs. It is the freedom to follow other religions and a
respect for that freedom that we should promote. It is entirely right that we
should respect other people, including those with other beliefs, and to respect
their right to hold those beliefs, but this is being conflated with a
requirement to respect all other beliefs, which is quite a different thing altogether.
I respect Scientologists, but I do not respect
Scientology. This confusion is very real. It appears in inspectors’ minds. Her
Majesty’s chief inspector of schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw, wrote of schools
teaching “respect for…various faiths”, making no distinction between the
believers and the beliefs. I understand that a Jewish Ofsted inspector has said
that Ofsted wants to clamp down on schools that
Will the Minister confirm that it is not the
intention that the standards should discriminate against any religion or
undermine religious freedoms, because that appears to be exactly what is
happening?
That brings us to yet another cause of confusion
mentioned already: what exactly are British values? The Department’s consultation
on British values—such a major issue—was hurried, mainly over the school summer
holiday period, and inadequate. To then require the active promotion of those
values by teachers is presumptuous and has contributed to the current
confusion. The Church of England, in its response to the consultation on
independent schools regulations, expressed concern that there had not been a
sufficiently broad public consultation to inform the definition of British
values
and remains of the view that they are
inadequately expressed and that broad public debate is still required.
Ministers need to act on such concerns expressed by the Church of England,
which oversees almost 5,000 church schools, both primary and secondary.
Another source of confusion that has been mentioned
surrounds the phrase “age-appropriate”, with reference to Ofsted inspectors’
questions. We hear of different head teachers reporting pupils variously
feeling
distressed, “traumatised and ashamed”, and
“uncomfortable and upset”. As we have heard, a girl in year 11 felt “threatened
about our religion”. It is a rich irony that, if that is the case, the
inspectors’ approach contravenes the very recommendation to respect people that
these standards extol. Far from promoting British values, these standards seem
to be undermining them.
A fundamental British value stated in the standard
is “individual liberty”, yet a teacher from an Orthodox Christian school, whom
I have known for more than 20 years, wrote to me to point out that
Ministers need to step in and clarify what
questions are and are not suitable for inspectors to ask young children, and
how this issue should be approached, so that young people of different faiths
can feel comfortable about living out their faiths in today’s diverse society.
Will the Minister confirm that he and his
colleagues will look towards giving clear direction to Ofsted inspectors on
these and other issues of concern to ensure that common sense prevails, to
clarify what teachers in faith schools can expect when being inspected and to
ensure that teachers’ ability to work according to their religious ethos is
protected, so that the Department’s statement that
“it is not necessary for schools or
individuals to ‘promote’ teachings, beliefs or opinions that conflict with
their own”
