MP joins fight to end religious discrimination in faith schools

A SENIOR MP has joined a campaign to prevent faith schools selecting pupils on the basis of religion.

Labour’s Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman, who chaired the House of Commons Education Select Committee, announced his support for the Fair Admissions Campaign yesterday.

He said: “As chair of the Education Select Committee for ten years, and chair of the Schools to Work policy review, I know only too well the huge impact a child’s schooling has on the rest of his or her life.

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“That is why I am pledging my support to the Fair Admissions Campaign, which aims to end discrimination on the basis of religion in British schools.

“Currently, faith schools are permitted to admit children solely on the basis of religious orientation.

“While I fully support faith schools – some of the best schools in the country and in Huddersfield are based on a religious ethos – it is utterly wrong that schools should be allowed to dictate a child’s future on the basis of religious identity.

“It is no longer right, in the 21st century, to legally enshrine religious discrimination, and according to polling, three quarters of the public agree.”

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The Campaign for State Education group has also joined the campaign as a supporting organisation.

The Fair Admissions Campaign says it wants “all state-funded schools in England and Wales to be open equally to all children, without regard to religion or belief.”

A statement on its website says: “The campaign is supported by a wide coalition of individuals and national and local organisations. We hold diverse views on whether or not the state should fund faith schools.

“But we all believe that faith-based discrimination in access to schools that are funded by the taxpayer is wrong in principle and a cause of religious, ethnic, and socio-economic segregation, all of which are harmful to community cohesion. It is time it stopped.”