Fair Schools for Oldham have pointed out the unfairness in the Brian Clarke Academy’s proposed admissions policy. We’ve calculated that children of parents that can prove they worship regularly will be eligible for over twice as many places in the new school as those that don’t.
The Cranmer Trust say that our claim is ‘factually incorrect’, but their counterargument doesn’t make sense.
They say that “Faith-based, and non-faith-based places are equally split – 120 places for each category.”
This would be relevant if those two categories were mutually exclusive – but if you practise a faith your child is eligible for both.
If you are not a believer, or you’re not able to prove regular attendance at worship over recent years, this means your child is only eligible for the geographic category, determined by where you live.
The Trust’s insistence that this is somehow equal treatment is disingenuous.
They simply can’t reserve any of their school places for children of regular worshippers, without discriminating against other children. They are not treating them equally. Because of the parents’ beliefs. That’s discrimination. They shouldn’t call it ‘inclusive’ or ‘equal’, because it’s neither.
Just to be clear about the impact of the faith-based selection, the table below shows the difference it makes depending on where you live. If this strikes you as something that shouldn’t be happening in a state-funded school. Please join our campaign to add your voice.
No faith |
Faith |
Difference |
|
If parents don’t practice a faith, only the geographical zone applies | If parents practice a faith (the zone allocation plus an extra 60 places in either the Christian or non-Christian faith categories) | Ratio of places the child is eligible for (Faith/No-faith) | |
Zone 1 | 45 places | 105 | 2.33 |
Zone 2 | 50 places | 110 | 2.2 |
Zone 3 | 25 places | 85 | 3.4 |
Beyond 3 miles | 0 places | 60 | N/A |
Pingback: It's not fair. Let's be honest. -