Baroness Uddin on
non-religious education bill
In the House of
Lords
Dr Mozammel Haque
Baroness Burt of Solihull from the Liberal Democrat moved the bill and explained
“the reason for the title of the Bill, which I have to admit is a bit of a
gobful. The term “philosophical conviction” is found in case law in the
European Convention on Human Rights, which noble Lords will know that the UK is
signed up to. The convention states that the education and teaching of children
must be in line with their parents’
“own religious and philosophical convictions”.
She said, “Therefore, when teaching religious education, non-religious
philosophical convictions or views must be given equal respect to religious
views. Those non-religious views are termed “worldviews”, and the Bill would
rename the subject “religious education” as “religion and worldviews”, or RW
for short.”
She continued, “In terms of the law, the Bill would ensure that statute
kept pace with case law. The 2015 judgment of Fox vs Secretary of State for
Education, a case taken under Article 9 of the convention and Article 2 of the
first protocol, stated: “The State must accord equal respect to different
religious convictions, and to non-religious beliefs: it is not entitled to
discriminate between religions and beliefs on a qualitative basis: its duties
must be performed from a standpoint of neutrality and impartiality as regards
the quality and validity of parents’ convictions.”
Baroness Burt said, “This approach is supported by the subject
association for RE, the Religious Education Council of England and Wales. It is
also in line with the recent commission on RE, chaired by the then Dean of
Westminster. The commission recommended that the subject be renamed religion
and worldviews, and this has been RE council policy since 2018. Wales has already
led the way and reformed its curriculum to match case law.”
She continued, “However, I can assure the Lords Spiritual Benches and
all noble Lords of faith that faith schools’ right to teach faith-based
religion will be untouched. Voluntary-aided faith schools and academies which
were previously voluntary-aided schools will still be able to teach RE in line
with the particular faith of the school and, just as now, parents will be able
to request the locally agreed syllabus as an alternative. The remaining
two-thirds of schools, which do not have a religious character, will be able,
as now, to get their agreed syllabus from their local council or, in the case
of academies, devise their own. RW will replace RE, as currently set out in the
agreed syllabus conferences, which will be reformed to also include
representatives of non-religious worldviews.”
Baroness Burt said, “The way that the state school system has evolved
over many years has meant a great deal of legislation has to be amended in this
Bill, leading to a relatively long Bill but with a straightforward, clear
message throughout. Where RW is taught in schools of a non-religious
nature, it will cover religions as before: impartially. All religions and
beliefs will be afforded equal respect, grounded on the principles found in common
law and respecting the fact that religious traditions in Great Britain are, in
the main, Christian.”
She mentioned about an amendment tabled by the noble Baroness, “Lady
Meacher, who I see is in her place, to the Government’s Schools Bill, which
would have introduced RW to academies. The Minister responding, the noble
Baroness, Lady Penn, pointed out that the change was unnecessary because
schools are already able to teach RW. However, being able to do something and
being required to do it are not the same thing. Too many schools, and too many
locally agreed syllabuses, still fail to afford equal respect to non-religious
worldviews. These schools are going against the judgment in the Fox case and
the consensus of the subject community. But who can blame them, when the
current statutory position is unclear on this point and they are expected to
follow a non-inclusive locally agreed syllabus?”
Baroness Burt of Solihull concluded, “The law needs changing, otherwise
the Government need to be able to justify why they think that the beliefs of
half the adults and two-thirds of the young people of this country should be
disregarded. I beg to move.
She started saying, “Despite the decline suggested in this Chamber and
elsewhere, we live in a country of faith or faiths. When I arrived in the UK, I
already had an understanding of only the most basic elements of my faith. My
siblings and I were unable to access any religious studies in schools in London
at that time—some 50 years ago. Hardly any masjids or mosques existed in the
community, and there was no question that religious practice remained within
our four walls. The racism experienced by many families was about colour,
culture, clothes and a lack of English—even if you spoke good Queen’s English,
it was not good enough. No one ever shouted, “You’re a Muslim” or “You’re a
Hindu” as a slur.”
Views on Islam
Speaking on Islam, Baroness Uddin mentioned, “Views on Islam have
fundamentally changed, framing perspectives that have shaped worldviews through
the falsified prism of 9/11. It is difficult to compare my experience to that
of my children and grandchildren now, albeit that their experience appears to
be similar when it comes to religious abuse and discrimination, although this
is much more subtle.”
Religious education in school
She said, “Religious education in school is as diverse and varied as the
number of schools that exist and the way they are managed, as well as their
cultural context and leadership. This is despite countless instances of extreme
reporting that one religion or another dominates in certain geographical areas,
as though these schools are not under the strictest national curriculum
guidelines. The facts speak for themselves, if anyone wants to delve deeper
into the realities of students’ experience of religious studies, which are
generally not fit for purpose.”
Her Personal Experience
Speaking about her personal experience, Baroness Uddin mentioned, “My
40-year experience of sending children and grandchildren to Church of England
schools is that parents of students whose families may be practising one
faith or another experience few interactions on, and have little choice about,
how their children are taught religion or religions. I sent my children to a
school across the road and, as the years have gone on, I have concluded that
many schools appear to have become more inflexible and polarised about teaching
other religions in any meaningful way. I cannot imagine that many parents would
go into a Church of England school and ask, “Are you teaching my children about
Hinduism, Islam or Judaism?”, for example, regardless of how legally agreed the
syllabus may be.”
Faith Schools
Speaking about faith schools, Baroness Uddin mentioned, “I would go as
far as to say that only faith schools that are not Church of England schools
are more unfavourably scrutinised at the moment. Some faith schools are
deliberately depicted in fearful ways, while very little attention is paid to
the overall impact of Church of England schools on the experiences of religious
education of the high percentage of non-Christian children who attend them.
Many faith schools with an emphasis on one faith tend not to provide an
adequate standard of teaching of other religions, which must be devastating for
children’s mental well-being and their development of confidence in themselves
as young minds. The impact of not being recognised, if they come from a family
that practises a different religion from that of the majority of other
students, must be detrimental to their personal growth and development. Denying
a young student an aspect of their identity, such as religion, may impede their
education and constrain their understanding of what valuing and respecting
others means in their daily experiences in the community.”
What is good religious education
Speaking about good religious education, Baroness Uddin said, “I cannot
prescribe what a good religious education is, but it is my considered view that
should religion be taught in a school, it cannot choose one particular religion
over another. It has to be within an agreed context that values the faiths of
all students in that school. How can that be possible if there are thousands of
different schools? I cannot answer that alone. Our school system teaches a
national curriculum based on consensus, so why can we not make religious
studies more inclusive? The fact remains that religion is taught throughout
primary and secondary schools, and we can make significant improvements to the
materials that we currently use within set boundaries and with learned teachers
who have been taught to respect all faiths of all peoples. I appreciate and
acknowledge that those balances are difficult to address, but that is not a
good enough rationale not to encourage and promote wider learning of all faiths
while respecting pupils from families who do not practise any religion.”
Baroness Uddin shared some points
of Her discussion with young people
Baroness Uddin spoke to several young people and she wanted to share a
small snippet. She mentioned, “One of the points made was that discussion of
their faith was narrow, with a series of generalised and often inaccurate
statements which children are not often able to relate to, empowered to
challenge or to ask for clarification on in case they are chastised. Some
comments came through about children feeling fearful about challenging their
friends and teachers in case they were reported. Young people often feel under
pressure to represent the whole of their community even though they themselves
may have unanswered questions about their faith. Some feel isolated having to
navigate their personal belief in a majority Christian learning
environment. I worry about the gravest impacts of such marginalisation arising
from religion being taught without adequate training, knowledge and expertise.”
World situation vis-à-vis Religion
Talking about the world situation vis-à-vis religion, Baroness Uddin
gave a picture mentioning, “The whole world is in some turmoil or other.
Conveniently, in recent contexts, religion has been cited as the reason for
many conflicts. Young Muslims in particular are left disenfranchised,
experiencing the wrath evident in the perplexing terminologies of
fundamentalism as well as the pathetic concept surrounding the long disreputable
and Islamophobic application of the so-called Prevent and Channel strategies,
which have demonised even young primary school children, who allegedly are
under watch if they refer to God too many times or, in secondary school, raise
concerns about the Middle East.”
England
Referring to England, Baroness Uddin mentioned, “England need not look
too far for good practice if it is minded to be inclusive in providing
religious education. We have distinguished experts and scholars in this very
House. Following the 2015 judgment already referred to, the Welsh Government
introduced the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Act 2021, which ensures that
RE is inclusive in those ways in Wales. Our Government are committed to
“promoting respect for human rights, including freedom of religion or
belief, and pluralistic and peaceful societies, where all people are …
respected, regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender, disability status or
other characteristics”.
Baroness Uddin agreed and said, “I agree wholeheartedly that religious
education in schools must reflect respect, taking into account students’ lived
experience, and must be inclusive.”
She also said, “I am conscious of what happens in religion-based
education. I sent four children and grandchildren to a Church of England school
fully aware that only one religion would be pervasive, without any evident,
conscious efforts to include, inform and educate children within the context of
all their faiths. The message to many children may have been that those
attending one type of religious school cannot be expected to be enlightened
equally about other faiths.”
Baroness Uddin also mentioned, “No matter what our liberal views of the
world may be, religious education has never been more relevant, engaging or
challenging, as religion and religious issues are ever present in our lives.
Religious education may provide students with valuable insights into the
diverse beliefs and opinions that may inform their personal development and
understanding of the spiritual, moral, social and cultural questions that are
ever present in their lives. Thoughtful lessons may assist pupils to gain
insights that can help to challenge stereotypes, promote cohesion and encourage
them to value themselves and respect others.”
While concluding her speech, Baroness Uddin said, “I have taken the
liberty of this debate to share some of my experiences and observations. I
thank all noble Lords for their patience. Surely we agree that much of these
discussions are the purview of the scholars and experts who may be more
equipped to enlighten us. In principle, I support the premise of this Private
Member’s Bill and wish the noble Baroness, Lady Burt of Solihull, well.”
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