'Faith' schools scrutinised after Bradford riots

Government admits it must examine religion in education while Asian leaders support police after trouble

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Leading article: Ministers must realise the implications of Bradford's divided schools

The Government is examining the role of faith and multi-faith schools after segregation of pupils was cited as a cause of racial divisions, the Secretary of State for Education, Estelle Morris, said yesterday.

Bradford's education system was blamed for heightening racial tension in the city in a report published last week by a former chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality.

Racial division and gang rivalry was being made worse by children from different ethnic groups being sent to separate schools and their failure to mix even when in multiracial schools, according to the report by Sir Herman Ouseley.

While ministers remain committed to increasing the number of faith schools, they will only do so where that is what parents want, Ms Morris said.

Asked whether increasing the number of faith schools would inflame racial tensions, Ms Morris said: "I have thought a lot about that over the last week since what we have heard about Bradford.

"We would not open faith schools unless that is what parents want," Ms Morris told BBC1's Breakfast with Frost. "It is a response to what parents want for their children. But I think the way Bradford has been described, we need to do some serious thinking.

"In Birmingham, the city where my constituency is, there are some of our inner-city schools with 98 per cent Muslims and they do well and we have many examples of good multiracial schools and we ought to hang on to that in the days and weeks to come."

Sir Herman Ouseley's report on Bradford found evidence of an increasing divide between the white and Asian communities in the city. The report was commissioned by the city council and compiled before the riots in Bradford, which appeared to be racially motivated.

Bradford's schools have been a persistent source of controversy. Earlier this year when David Blunkett, as Education Secretary, announced that the city would have the first Muslim state secondary school in Britain, there was criticism that it would increase the ethnic divide in the city.

A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills said yesterday: "The recent Green Paper [calling for more 'faith' schools] outlined proposals to increase the number of faith schools where there is a clear demand from parents and the local community.

"This is no way encourages racial division but is consistent with the long-standing and widely accepted tradition of church schools in this country.

"We have recently widened the state system to include schools of other faiths than the established churches to reflect the cultural diversity of our communities."

In her television interview with Breakfast with Frost, Ms Morris also denied that the White Paper on education had been delayed because of a disagreement over how far to take private-sector involvement. The White Paper, now to be published in the autumn, contains plans for pupils to start studying for their GCSEs at the age of 13. The changes would allow bright students to take AS-levels a year early, reducing the pressure when they are in the sixth form.

The White Paper, originally expected to be published next week, had been postponed to give teachers a fair chance to scrutinise them, she said.

But Ms Morris conceded there were "really tough decisions to be made" on private-sector involvement in education. "It's going to be a White Paper that faces up to those decisions so in that respect I expect the autumn will be about tough-talking, sharing our ideas," she said. "But that is how White Papers should be."

The "bottom line" was that standards must be raised, the Education Secretary said. "If using some of the skills of the private sector helps me to do that, well fine, but it is not the only thing."

Ms Morris apologised again to the hundreds of thousands of lower sixth-formers who struggled to cope with the new AS-level exams this summer.

Although the reform "was not implemented well", the idea was "initially welcomed by everybody", Ms Morris said. Lower sixth-formers should have to work hard, but "I do not want them to be fighting against unreasonable bureaucracy and I think they have been for the last year", she added. Ms Morris said last week the AS-level reforms did no credit to any ministers and officials involved in their introduction, which included herself.