Senior figures in the Church of England and Catholic, Methodist and Baptist Churches recently pointed out that secondary schools in England are failing to organise daily acts of worship, therefore limiting children's spiritual and moral development.
The Church leaders said teachers and heads needed more training in how to run religious assemblies, as they are legally required to do. By law, schools in England must organise daily acts of worship, which are "wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character".While primary schools usually fulfil their duties, often with whole-school assemblies, many state secondaries do not, the Churches said.
The call to the education secretary, Alan Johnson, won support from the government, which said Ofsted inspectors would continue to monitor school assemblies.
But head-teachers responded sharply, accusing the churches of "missing the point". John Dunford, general ’secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "The law compelling schools to conduct collective worship is a contradiction in terms - worship cannot be compelled.
"Even without the law, schools would still have an obligation to develop the spiritual and moral education of children."The Churches' joint letter, calling on Mr Johnson to restore "an important part of pupils' entitlement in school", said daily collective worship "provides experience of meditation, reflection and prayer as spiritual resources".
Under the law, schools do not have to organise large assemblies but can hold collective worship in smaller class groups.
The Rt Rev Dr Kenneth Stevenson, Bishop of Portsmouth and chair of the churches' joint education policy committee, said organising daily worship could be "a tough demand".
But, he said: "Schools and colleges that invest in the activity are startled at the impact it can make on the rest of the school day - and [on] the attitudes of their students."We hope that the message of our letter is heard and acted upon."
The churches expressed concern at the high level of non-compliance with the law on collective worship in secondary community schools and the lack of engagement with the issue.
The church leaders told Mr Johnson that teachers needed more training and that the government should issue a clear statement to schools setting out their legal obligations.
A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills said: "We agree that collective acts of worship are important to help promote tolerance and understanding among children and young people.
"Every maintained school, by law, must provide religious education and a daily act of collective worship for all its pupils. It is the responsibility of the headteacher, governors and local authorities to make sure these are carried out. Ofsted continues to monitor this as part of their inspection regime," the statement added.
