New UK research suggest that faith schools are better at tackling extremism and promoting race relations than State run schools.
Such schools, the study says, are considerably more likely to be praised by Ofsted, the UK body for monitoring school standards, for building relationships with minority groups in the local community.
The study, by Prof David Jesson, from York University, said the conclusions ran directly counter to the view that religious schools were “divisive” and promoted segregation.
In 2006, Labour attempted to introduce rules forcing all faith schools to admit at least a quarter of pupils from other religions or atheist backgrounds, but the move was dropped following a huge outcry from Catholics.
Under legislation, all schools have a duty to promote “community cohesion” and citizenship. It includes a requirement to teach about British identity, the traditions of all major faiths and individual rights and responsibilities, coupled with a drive to ease community tensions. Ofsted is tasked with ensuring schools create an action plan focusing on minority groups outside the school and different races or religions in the classroom.
The latest study, commissioned by the Church of England, analysed ratings given to 700 primary and 400 secondary schools by the education watchdog.
Researchers compared non-religious schools to Anglican, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu schools.
The report gave schools a score of one if they were rated “outstanding” for promoting community cohesion, through to four if they were given an “inadequate” judgment.
The findings showed both faith primary schools and non-religious primaries scored an average of 2.2 overall.
But at secondary level, the faith schools scored an average of 1.86, compared with 2.31 for non-religious secondaries.
Of the 74 secondary faith schools surveyed, almost a third were rated “outstanding” at community relations, while around one in seven of the 271 non-religious comprehensives were given the same grade.
Prof Jesson said there was “clear evidence” that faith schools were awarded “substantially higher” grades for community cohesion than other schools.
He added: “This finding is particularly relevant to the debate about schools’ contribution to community cohesion – and runs completely counter to those who have argued that because faith schools have a distinctive culture reflecting their faith orientation and are responsible for their admissions that they are ‘divisive’ and so contribute to greater segregation amongst their communities.”
In a survey last year, a Department of Education audit found that Catholic primary schools topped the table for social inclusion.
The figures showed that Catholic primary schools were more likely to enrol children from the traveller community, from non-Irish backgrounds and children with special needs than other denominational and multidenominational schools.
The findings contradicted allegations made by some politicians and teachers’ unions that the enrolment policies of Catholic schools amounted to “educational apartheid”.
