The National Union of Teachers (NUT) is expected to come out in favour of scrapping faith schools and ending Christian assemblies in order to put an end to “segregation” in education.
The NUT will be meeting in Cardiff this week and is also expected to say that faith schools should be deprived of their right to select students on the basis of religion.
Delegates at the conference are also set to debate a campaign against creating more faith schools.
Currently there are 7,000 state-funded secondary schools, the majority of which are run by the Church of England, Roman Catholic or Methodist Churches. The government has encouraged the creation of more faith schools.
During the conference there will be a debate on a motion proposed by Hank Roberts, from Brent, which says that religious groups should have “no place in the control and management of schools", reports The Daily Mail.
The NUT leadership is also trying to put an end to faith schools choosing pupils on the basis of faith. Christine Blower, the general secretary of the NUT, said, “Faith schools can’t be fully promoting social and community cohesion if their prime responsibility is only to select pupils of a particular faith.”
In a separate event, a second union, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, will hold a debate at its meeting in Liverpool on ending daily Christian worship.
Under law, secular state schools are required to hold a “broadly Christian” act of worship every day.
