Opinion Out Loud brings you a selection of the National Secular Society’s opinion pieces in audio format.
The Church of England’s new evangelical missional strategy should lead us to question its entitlement to proselytise in schools, argues Stephen Evans.
Read this original opinion piece: https://www.secularism.org.uk/opinion/2021/07/schools-arent-there-to-save-the-church
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A new Catholic primary school is about to be constructed in Hampton Water, Peterborough, despite local opposition. It will be the first state-funded Catholic school in England for a decade.
Full shownotes and subscriber information: https://www.secularism.org.uk/podcast/2021/06/ep-52/
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What does it mean for a school to be ‘C of E’? And how far does the Church of England’s influence extend over state-funded education?
Full shownotes and subscriber information: www.secularism.org.uk/podcast/2021/05/ep-50
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In this episode, Emma Park discusses unregistered faith schools, particularly in the Hasidic community with Eve Sacks, a member of the Jewish anti-extremist organisation Nahamu.
Eve has spent years engaging with members of the ultra-orthodox community in London. They discuss issues in registered independent schools and the prevalence of unregistered schools where boys aged 13 to 18 are sent to receive religious instruction with little or no secular education. There is also evidence that boys who do not perform well in their studies receive corporal punishment. The result is that they leave school utterly unequipped to participate in civil society.
Efforts to tackle these ‘schools’ and similar abuses of children’s rights in the registered independent sector have been slow going, while members of the Hasidic community who want a different education for their children often experience severe pressure to conform.
After the interview, Emma speaks to Alastair Lichten, head of education at the NSS, to reflect on the fascinating insights provided by Eve, and the NSS’s position on unregistered and faith schools.
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nb4LRNtk1o&feature=youtu.be
Transcripts: https://www.secularism.org.uk/transcripts
Notes
NSS supports plans to regulate unregistered schools: https://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2020/05/nss-supports-plans-to-regulate-unregistered-schools
Corporal punishment still being used in Orthodox Jewish schools, inquiry hears – Telegraph, 21st May 2020: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/05/21/corporal-punishment-still-used-orthodox-jewish-schools-inquiry/
‘The Missing?’ by Eve Sacks, 11 July 2019: http://nahamu.org/the-missing/
Illegal Faith Schools: https://www.secularism.org.uk/unregistered-schools/
Make a stand for freedom, fairness and human rights by adding your voice to the call for a secular democracy. Join the National Secular Society today https://www.secularism.org.uk/join
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In this week’s episode, Emma Park speaks to Megan Manson about Operation Christmas Child, a programme that encourages schoolchildren and youth groups around the UK to send Christmas shoeboxes to children in developing countries. Those sending the shoeboxes may not be aware that they are being used as part of a conversion drive by an evangelical Christian charity, Samaritan’s Purse. The case raises the question of whether ‘the advancement of religion’ should still be a charitable purpose.
Emma then speaks to Alastair Lichten about the NSS’s revelation that 20,000 children have been assigned to faith schools in the state sector this year despite their parents opting for a non-faith school as their first choice.
The episode also features highlights from our 2019 Bradlaugh Lecture. Assistant head Andrew Moffat defended inclusive education in his talk ‘No Outsiders: Reclaiming Radical Ideas in Schools’.
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIQHMg3_wsY&feature=youtu.be
Transcripts: https://www.secularism.org.uk/transcripts
Notes
Does Operation Christmas Child benefit the public?
Samaritan’s Purse Mission Statement
https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/who-we-are/
Charities Act 2011, section 3: List of charitable purposes
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011/25/section/3
Complete videos of the NSS’s Bradlaugh Lectures
https://www.secularism.org.uk/bradlaugh-lecture.html/
20,000 children sent to faith schools against parental preferences in 2019
Make a stand for freedom, fairness and human rights by adding your voice to the call for a secular democracy. Join the National Secular Society today https://www.secularism.org.uk/join
Support the podcast, share with a friend and leave a five star review everywhere you can.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download