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CES Press Statement in Response to House of Lords Debate on the Education and Inspection Bill, 17th October 2006
The Secretary of State is on record as saying that Catholic schools are amongst the most ethnically and socially diverse in the country (2 October 2006). In this letter to Archbishop Vincent Nichols, which the Secretary of State published the following day (http://www.dfes.gov.uk/pns/pnattach/20060139/4.pdf), he spoke of the strong commitment and contribution that Catholic schools and sixth form colleges make to social cohesion. The Secretary of State went on to note their community role and work with other schools including those of other faiths or none.
Why then is the Government now calling for admissions quotas? How can people of faith have confidence in the Government when it is willing to change its point of view on our schools so rapidly under pressure and to fuel an inaccurate and divisive debate on the place of religion and schools?
We utterly oppose quotas or proportions on admissions to faith schools. Such measures are ill-thought out, divisive and would be unworkable in practice.
Hard data and personal experience both demonstrate that Church schools make a very positive impact for the good of society. A duty to, and care for humankind is at the heart of our faith and, therefore, at the centre of Catholic education. We collaborate with schools of all kinds and will continue to extend this so that pupils in our own schools (many of whom come from other faiths or none) and pupils elsewhere can benefit from one another’s experiences, interests and support.
We wholeheartedly support all schools being required to demonstrate their contribution to community cohesion. We offer our participation, expertise and enthusiasm to plan the best ways of implementing this across schools. We look forward to working on this agenda with our many partners across education.
Oona Stannard
Chief Executive and Director
(18th October 2006)
For more information please contact:
Laura McCann, Policy and Briefing Officer,
lmccann@cesew.org.uk Tel: 020 7901 4954 (www.cesew.org.uk)
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