Cohesion
Faith schools have promoted community cohesion, rather than fostered division, according to new research from the Church of England.
In what can be seen as a fact-based swipe at humanists, who claim that faith schools promote non-integration and active discrimination, the study found that schools run by faith groups scored 11 per cent more than community schools in terms of promoting social cohesion.
Prof. David Jesson of the University of York, who led the research, also found that faith-based schools outperformed community schools by almost nine per cent when it came to tackling inequality. The study used data from 400 secondary schools and 700 primary schools.
Prof. Jesson said: ‘This finding runs counter to those who have argued that, because faith schools have a distinctive culture reflecting their faith orientation and are responsible for their admissions, they are therefore divisive and so contribute to greater segregation among their communities’.
