By - - BBC NEWS - ENGLAND
Added: Tue, 06 Sep 2011 08:32:26 UTC

Thanks to David Pearson for the link.

Many state schools in England are not providing group worship, despite legislation making it a requirement, a survey suggests.

The Comres survey for BBC local radio found 64% of the 500 parents questioned said their child did not attend daily acts of collective worship.

But 60% of the 1,743 adults asked said the legislation should not be enforced.

Some schools were opting to teach pupils about community rather than religion, said educationalists.

The deputy head at Mile Oak School said fulfilling the government's worship requirement was difficult

The Department for Education states that all maintained schools in England must provide a daily act of collective worship which must reflect the traditions of this country, which it says are, in the main, broadly Christian.

'Important statement'
Parents have the right to withdraw their child from the daily act of collective worship and sixth-formers can decide for themselves whether or not to attend.

Comres spoke to 1,743 adults during the survey, including 500 parents, and found 60% believe the daily act of collective worship should not be enforced.

The Bishop of Oxford, the Right Reverend John Pritchard, said doing daily worship in schools was an "important statement".

"What we believe as a country is important in the education of our young people, so I think it is an important statement that the country makes to its schools and says will you please do this," he said.

"If schools refuse to do that, or fail to, then I think they need to be encouraged to do it, I wouldn't use the word enforced though at all."

But Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) chief policy advisor Alison Ryan questioned how much schools and parents wanted daily worship.

"People are concerned about inclusivity, how much is it wanted by parents, pupils or even the staff themselves?

Christian ethos
"When a law is being flouted on a pretty major scale that is telling you something about its use, about how maybe it should be reformed or changed, so we believe it needs to be looked at."

Read on

TAGGED: CHILDREN, EDUCATION, RELIGION, SECULARISM