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25 October 2006

Only believers need apply

Faith schools could soon be allowed to select teaching assistants according to their religion.

The government wants to introduce the change through an amendment to the Education and Inspections Bill, currently before Parliament.

If passed it would mean that Catholic, Church of England, Jewish or Muslim state schools could favour people of the same faith for teaching assistant jobs regardless of their ability.

Teachers would not be affected, but the government wants to allow faith schools to be able to insist headteachers are of the same faith.

The GMB trade union says the amendment has been introduced with no consultation with trade unions. General secretary Paul Kenny said it was a recipe for religious intolerance and should be withdrawn.
Posted on Wednesday, October 25, 2006

2 comments:

  1. Schools which want to do their best for children will always try to appoint the best people for the job whatever their religion.
    ReplyDelete
  2. The TA would (rightly) be expected to promote the school ethos, but this could be problematic if, for example, modesty required staff to wear long skirts and high necklines, or model piety by regular attendance at prayers. I think it's too easy to assume that non-believers could function easily in a faith school. People of faith who choose these schools do so because they want their faith at the heart of the whole life of the school.
    And what about the reverse: how easy is it for people of faith to function in a secular school where all religions are necessarily given equal weight?
    Is it really a recipe for religious intolerance? I think the intolerance comes from non-religious people and is directed towards religious people!
    ReplyDelete

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