UK: Anglican schools want prove of Christianity

Parents set a test of faith

Continued from Page One

families an alternative to paying for private education.'

In a speech on faith schools he will say: ?'The often-forgotten fact that church schools are the main educational presences in some of our most deprived communities means that it simply cannot be said that these schools somehow have a policy of sanitising or segregating.'

At present local vicars, headteachers and governors set local criteria for admissions after taking into account advice from diocesan and national Church authorities.

But middle-class parents have become adept at making themselves known in churches, taking part in voluntary activities and making financial contributions for a period long enough to get their children into a school.

Later this year, however, the Church will publish new national admissions rules.

Officials said yesterday they will include saving places for nonChristian children in a school's catchment area, and places for children of other faiths in areas where there is demand.

The remaining places, devoted to children of Christian families, will be decided on ?'objective criteria'.

These will include checks on baptism and possibly on confirmation - CofE churches now carry out confirmations on many children before THE Anglican faith is the first to draw up admissions criteria to apply across all of its schools.

But the requirement to demonstrate commitment to the faith brings it in line with standard practice among other denominations.

Clergy have discussed the possibility of attendance registers but the idea is deeply unpopular with some vicars, who believe it would amount to ?'punching the clock'.

The new rules will also ban interviews with parents to establish their Christian credentials - a move which fits in with Labour's planned new Education Bill.

But some clergy believe interviews are the best way to establish who is really a Christian. They say well-educated and resourceful parents will always be able to manipulate admissions rules better than poorer parents.

Local clergy will still have a say, though, on who is a proper person to be allotted a school place reserved for a Christian family.

The CofE is particularly proud that its schools - one in 16 of all secondaries and one in four primaries - appeal to Muslims and other minority faith parents, who generally prefer them to non-religious state schools.

Dr Williams will say: ?'Church schools are among the relatively few public institutions generally regarded with trust by minority religious communities.'

He adds that this ?'gives the lie to any idea that faith schools are automatically nurseries of bigotry'.

The best-known parents to choose a religious school rather than a local comprehensive for their children are Tony and Cherie Blair.

They sent their sons Euan and Nicky to the Roman Catholic London Oratory, which both interviews parents and admits only those pupils who put it as first choice on application forms. Mr Blair said last month: ?'I knew what I wanted for my own children, what I want for my own children, and what I expect other parents to want.'

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HOW OTHER RELIGIONS DECIDE

Roman Catholic church schools generally require at least a baptism certificate when whittling down applications if oversubscribed.

Many RC schools in and around London, where schools are most likely to have more applications than places, ask for the traditional age of 11. Many clergy expect the rules to centre on church attendance, which is widely regarded as the only real measure of Christian commitment.

A period of one or two years of regular attendance may be set - the longer term would be likely to weed out parents who suddenly start going in the months before a child changes schools.

Demands for parents to show they are regular churchgoers raise problems, however. Some areas with large middleclass populations and successful a priest's reference, which would be expected to show regular attendance at mass.

The Muslim Council of Britain said there were now seven Islamic state schools - three secondary and four primary.
Education spokesman Tahir Alam said admissions policy was down to individual schools but they all give preference to children from the Islamic faith.

Some require a reference from a cleric while others interview parents to determine how well they support their children in the faith. CofE schools have churches with large congregations, so clerics cannot be sure who is in the pews each week and who is not.

Hands up for the multi-faithed schools

Religious leaders across the country have backed calls for faith schools to accept a proportion of pupils with different beliefs.

The moves follow calls by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, who has pointed to faith schools as a force for socuial good that teach tolerance and respect.

Currently faith schools - which make up one in three schools and receive around 85 per cent of their funds from the taxpayer - can set their own admissions policies.

Although they cannot refuse to admit those of other or no faiths if their are space places, over-subscribed schools can now insist on proof of baptism or regular attendance at a place of worship.

Now leading religious figures have backed the Archnishop of Canterbury in calling for a new dialogue on how and when children of different faiths should be intergrated in schools.

Jan Ainsworth, director of education for Manchester Diocese of the Church of England, says that although most successful C of E schools already admit children of different faith, she would like to "start a discussion" with other groups about promoting more open access across religions.

She said: "We want to built strong relationships across faiths and need to make sure children from diferent backgrounds get to each other.

"Parents from other faiths tend to like Christian schools because religion and faith are woven into the school. No one is trying to convince others to change their faith. Our view is that there should be a place for commiited Christians but also for those of other faiths."

Also backing calls for youngsters of different faiths to lean side by side, is Kalid Anis, of the Isalamic Society. He said:"I don't think it would be a bad idea at all if faith schools accepted pupils of other religions, perhaps up to a certain percentage.

"A lot of people bandy about the idea that faith schools are responsible for problems, but that is plainly ridiculous. If you look at the riots a few years ago in places like Oldham, if anything those people from faith schools would be the first to uphold the values of citizenship."

And Louis Rapaport, president of the Jews Represebtative Council of Greater Manchester, said: "In general as a community we are in favour of faith schools. That doesn't mean we don't se great advantages in integration.

"I personally would be in favour of bringing people together at secundary age. All my grandchildren have gone into the state system at secondary age, but fully confident in their Jewish faith."

Education Secreatry Ruth Kelly, who is MP for Bolton West, has praise faith schools for her "explicit commotment to promoting inclusion and tolerance".

Faith schools in Manchester have achieved excellent results. The King David School, a Jewish school in Crumpsall, is best performing state secondary in Manchester, with 98 per cent of students getting five or more GCSEs at grade C or above.

And Trinity CE High School is second (61 per sent), with Barlow Roman Catholic High School not far behind.

There are currently no state-funded Muslim schools, although there are Islamic schools in the independent sector.