The Conflict over Character Education: Faith Schools in Britain

In the UK recently, there has been concern over the growth in private and unregistered faith schools.

Balancing the rights of communities who hold differing religious or philosophical views from the mainstream has long been a contentious issue. This point of debate is magnified when it comes to education and the question of who has the right, the family or the state, to determine the values of children. One would likely wish to maintain freedom of conscience and belief as far as possible. This is what the American Constitution endeavored to protect in its First Amendment. However, how far does this allowance for character education, of which religious belief is just one part, extend? How do we balance the wishes and needs of parents against the needs of the state to ensure a cohesive society?

The debate in the U.S. around the rights of parents to educate children to develop their character vs. the right of the state to determine what values ought to be taught came to a head in the 1972 case of Wisconsin v. Yoder. The case, brought before the United States Supreme Court, concerned whether children of the Amish community should be allowed to be educated by their community after eighth grade, or whether the state could make public school attendance compulsory. In the end, the Supreme Court found that the parents’ right to educate their children outweighed the state’s interest in educating its children. The parents’ fundamental right to freedom of religion ultimately outweighed that of the state to determine what values these children should receive as part of their everyday education.

This may have helped to settle whose rights carry more weight between the state and the family in the United States. But then the question arises, what if the right of the family to educate their children how they see fit impinges on the rights of their children? Out of this, questions about the ultimate purpose of education arise. In the UK recently, there has been concern over the growth in private and unregistered faith schools. The private faith schools under scrutiny number around 1,000 and are not affiliated with any independent school body.