Compulsory worship in schools considered inappropriate by most Britons
Friday, 9 August 2019 00:01
The Accord Coalition has urged that the laws demanding daily
worship in all state schools should be repealed and replaced with
guidance for schools on providing assemblies that are genuinely
inclusive for those of different religious and non-religious
backgrounds. The call has been made in response to a new
survey of the British public which finds acts of worship are
viewed as the least appropriate activity for school assemblies. The
survey, conducted by YouGov and commissioned by...Request free trial
The Accord Coalition has urged that the laws demanding daily
worship in all state schools should be repealed and replaced with
guidance for schools on providing assemblies that are genuinely
inclusive for those of different religious and non-religious
backgrounds. The call has been made in response to a new survey of the
British public which finds acts of worship are viewed as the least
appropriate activity for school assemblies.
The survey, conducted by YouGov and commissioned by Humanists UK,
asked about the appropriateness of a range of 13 different
activities or topics to be explored in school assembles. 'The
environment and nature' and 'Celebration of achievements' were
found to have the most positive net ratings of support at +72% and
+67% respectively. 'Acts of religious worship' in contrast were
opposed by 50% of respondents, to 28% in favour, providing a net
rating of -12%.
Chair of the Accord Coalition for Inclusive Education, the Reverend
Stephen Terry, said 'It is time that the laws demanding daily
Christian worship in all state funded schools are reviewed and
replaced. They are divisive, anachronistic and a barrier to schools
providing stimulating and inspiring assemblies that are genuinely
inclusive.'
'Schools should instead be encouraged and able to provide
assemblies that investigate and forge shared values, from a variety
of sources. People of different religions and beliefs should learn
from, with and attend the same schools as one another but, without
having a shared faith, shared worship is an impossibility.'
Notes
Compulsory worship has been previously highlighted as theologically
incoherent. In July 2014 the then Chair of the Church of England's
national Board of Education, The Rt Revd John
Pritchard, noted in a BBC
interview while commenting on the school worship laws that ‘worship
is by definition a voluntary activity’.
Currently all state funded schools in England and Wales
are legally required to hold a daily act of worship. The
requirement for non-faith schools is that if not all then at
least the majority of the acts of worship must be ‘wholly or mainly
of a broadly Christian character'. At state funded faith schools
the worship provided must be ‘in accordance with the tenets and
practices of the religion or religious denomination’ of the school.
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