Faith schools flourish, yet they breed a dangerously inward view of the world

Faith schools are not interested in free debate, or explaining fundamental British values such as equality for all regardless of sexual orientation and gender

Do faith schools encourage or discourage free thought? (AFP/Getty Images)

Until I was 11, I did not know any Catholics. We used to wonder what they were like and whether they played the same games. Did they really eat fish on Fridays? Were they more religious, destined for Heaven before everyone else?

When I was growing up in working-class inner London, my parents sent me to an Anglican primary school and then a Church of England grammar school. My Catholic friend Coleen Nolan grew up in Liverpool attending faith schools, never meeting any Anglicans. For all the talk today about “faith ghettos”, faith schools are long established in Britain and certainly not confined to Muslims.

Take the recent furore when an ultra-orthodox private Jewish school in north London tried to ban female drivers dropping their kids off. The school apologised, after being told such a ban was unlawful. Incidentally, that school was rated “good” by Ofsted and praised for teaching British values. Yet standards in faith schools vary so much and, half a century after my experiences as a child, segregation by religion still dominates our education system to an astonishing degree. For all the talk about integration and community life, the continued existence of so many faith schools (about a third of all state-funded schools in the UK) is a cause for concern.

In order to fight extremism we need dialogue, to educate kids about other faiths and customs. But many faith schools promote a blinkered, narrow view of British life. They are not interested in free debate, or explaining fundamental British values such as equality for all regardless of sexual orientation and gender.

Why is the Government so nervous about offending religious groups that it cannot implement one simple curriculum for teaching about belief, ethics and sex education in all schools?

Two-thirds of faith schools have the right to set a different admission policy, one that places religious belief at the top of the agenda, regardless of whether a child lives in the catchment area. Where I grew up, 60 per cent of schools still select pupils on the basis of their religion, and it is about 50 per cent in Liverpool. So much for progress!

Under existing guidelines, there are too many loopholes for faith schools to exploit when it comes to management styles and curriculum, as demonstrated this week when Ofsted published the shocking findings of the inspections of 22 private faith schools – both Christian and Muslim – with almost 2,000 pupils collectively. Nine were deemed inadequate and eight managed only the next rating: requiring improvement. More than half failed to meet required standards for leadership and management, and 10 failed on their curriculum. Half of these schools were found to be failing in four or more areas.

Most worrying was the revelation that, at one school, a female governor was required to sit in a separate room during meetings and had to talk through an open doorway. Recently, Ofsted announced that six private Muslim schools in the East End of London were failing to promote “British values”. At one, pupils thought they could not participate in music or dance; at another, pupils believed women should “stay at home and clean”. In some schools, pupils were segregated at break times.

Last year, there was an assertion that extremists were plotting to infiltrate and take over schools in Birmingham. The choice of governors at such schools can be bizarre. Most faith schools in the UK also have the freedom to decide what they will teach about other faiths, as well as picking and choosing aspects of sex education that suit their agenda. If we want to counter extremism and foster British values, all schools – from fee-paying to free, from state-aided to academies, and regardless of belief – should be subject to rigorous inspection, but also subject to the same strict guidelines over the curriculum studied and implementation of our equality laws.

Children are being stifled and blinkered and fed absolute bilge in the name of religion. I can’t see why faith schools should be allowed to flourish. As it is, one in five kids still lacks basic skills in maths and science by age 15, and one in five leaves primary school unable to read properly. So faith schools continue to prosper because parents erroneously believe they offer higher standards. They might be smaller and promote religious values, but they breed an inward-looking view of the world, and one that is often anti-British.

Nothing charitable about being hounded for money

It’s the season for giving, and not a day passes without an unsolicited request from a charity. I hung up on one cold caller last Saturday at 4pm – it couldn’t have occurred at a more upsetting moment. It’s not even December and I’ve already received a pile of charity pens, stickers and cards, none of which were requested. Am I supposed to sling them away or send money – in which case my details will be harvested and I’ll get even more annoying phone calls?

The tactics used to solicit money for good causes is under investigation, and professionals stand accused of targeting the elderly and vulnerable who routinely pledge a high proportion of their meagre income.

The death of Olive Cooke, Britain’s longest-serving poppy seller, after being constantly asked for cash led to exposure of the way database companies sell on contact details after an initial donation is made. A draft report this week into Olive’s case revealed her details were forwarded to 69 different charities, which sent her more than 460 letters and plagued her with phone calls. Widow Jenny Phelps set up three direct debits to charities, and subsequently received more than 1,000 letters from other worthy causes. She said found the experience “overwhelming”. The Fundraising Standards Board discovered that Olive Cooke’s details were on the databases of 22 data suppliers, so we can only imagine the upsetting pressure she was under.

Ever since I made a payment to one Christmas charity, I have been plagued with requests and mailouts. I wish there was a way to send money to a deserving cause without giving my details, but those details are required so the recipients can claim tax relief via gift aid.

They’ve turned Pinter’s pauses into panto

The Homecoming is one of Pinter’s finest plays, currently being revived at the Trafalgar Studios in London with a starry cast that includes Keith Allen, Gary Kemp and Mr Selfridge’s right-hand man, Ron Cook, playing the unspeakably nasty foul-mouthed dad. The play is 50 years old, but the theme is universal and timeless: the secrets at the heart of family life. A son who has done well in another country decides to visit his working-class family with his glamorous wife.

I last saw the play staged at the National Theatre in 1997, with Keith Allen cast as the returning son; now he plays Uncle Sam as a limp-wristed comedy turn – ironically, as the Trafalgar Studios (then known as the Whitehall) was billed as the “home of farce” back in the 1950s. Pinter’s power is in his silences, but now Jamie Lloyd has turned The Homecoming into a noisy panto, presumably aimed at a younger audience with a short attention span. There’s unnecessary throbbing music and flashing lights at the end of key scenes symbolising... what, exactly? Menace? I thought actors did that.

At the National, Lindsay Duncan gave a wonderful performance as the wife who gradually asserts herself, moving from henpecked spouse to manipulator of men. Here, Gemma Chan looks the part as a slow-moving glacial beauty, but seems to lack any hidden depths.