Muslim-faith-schools-causing-divisions-society-lack-diversity-warns-equality-campaigner.html

Matthew Taylor says faith schools causing social and racial segregation
Equality campaigner says Muslim faith schools have the least diversity
Government policy promotes segregation and anti-integration, he says
21 Birmingham schools were investigated over alleged Trojan Horse plot

Published: 10:30 GMT, 1 January 2015 | Updated: 13:43 GMT, 1 January 2015

Criticism: Matthew Taylor, chairman of the Social Integration Commission, said that the increase in faith and free schools is stifling diversity

The rise in Muslim faith schools is breeding social and racial segregation in Britain, a leading equality campaigner said today.

Matthew Taylor, chairman of the Social Integration Commission, said that the increase in faith and free schools is stifling diversity and stopping children from different races and backgrounds mixing.

He was particularly critical of Muslim faith schools because they have the least diversity.

It came after 2014 saw a string of schools criticised over 'Trojan horse' plots by religious extremists and failures to protect students from radical material and influences.

A report in July found there was a ‘coordinated’ campaign to introduce ‘an intolerant and aggressive Islamic ethos’ into some of the city’s schools.

In total 21 schools investigated by Ofsted and several were found to be failing students and put into special measures.

Mr Taylor, a former adviser to Tony Blair when he was prime minister, singled out Muslim faith schools as the least diverse in their intake and called for the Government to take action.

He accused the Government of a 'certain amount of carelessness' over its schools policy, in particularly that 'we have more schools and more faith schools and more free schools'.

He told the Independent: 'It's more by negligence than anything; I don't think that the Government has deliberately promoted segregation but I think sometimes it pursues policies which are anti-integration and it isn't sufficiently aware of that.

'Britain's becoming more diverse and if we don't think about this and we're not willing to act on it, the danger is we will become more separate ... there will be far too many places which feel like they're just for the well-off and far too many places which feel like they're just for the poor; there'll be far too many schools which feel like they're just for one minority group of for just one social class.'

Probe: Oldknow Academy in Birmingham was one of 21 schools investigated over the alleged Trojan Horse plot to introduce ‘an intolerant and aggressive Islamic ethos’ into some of the city’s schools

Faith schools shouldn't become silos of segregation (archive)

'If you were in the Department for Education and said, "A lot of these schools are not terribly integrated places", you'd have been brushed aside and told, "Well that's not actually a priority and that's not the important thing - the important thing is that we have got more of these institutions".

The latest figures for the number of government-approved free schools across the UK was 331, accounting for 175,000 pupils, as of June 2014.

In October plans for a voluntary code of conduct for faith schools were shelved by the Government.

This was despite even though it had been recommended by the cross-government task force on tackling extremism and radicalisation in order to prevent children being exposed to 'intolerant or extremist views' in religious 'supplementary schools' providing lessons outside mainstream education.

A DfE spokesman said: 'Our plan for education is designed to ensure every child of whatever background leaves school prepared for life in modern Britain. Ensuring they are well rounded young people, ready to play their full part in our society is a key part of that.

'The best schools already have strategies in place to ensure their pupils are well integrated and this government's policies are helping too. We have strengthened guidance to ensure all schools actively promote fundamental British values and that these are woven throughout the curriculum.

'Faith schools are an important part of our diverse education system and are popular with parents. We have made sure that all new faith academies and free schools can only prioritise half of their places according to the faith, while two thirds of new free schools have been created in some of the most deprived areas of the country'.