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Schools will not be compelled to teach other faiths

December 4, 2014 11:26
Backing Britain: Jubilee celebrations at the King David High School, Manchester

By

Simon Rocker,

Simon Rocker

1 min read

The government has made clear that faith schools will not be forced to teach about other religions.

Representatives of Orthodox Jewish schools welcomed the assurances, which came in new guidelines on promoting British values in schools.

A number of independent and state-aided schools, including Jewish schools, have recently fallen foul of inspectors for failing to do enough to make pupils aware of Britain's cultural diversity. In one Muslim independent school, inspectors made a point of noting in their report that children were not learning about other religions.

But in draft regulations for independent schools which are likely to become law shortly, the Department for Education stated that "there is no requirement for a faith school to promote other faiths as well as its own".