The ‘prayer ban’ at Michaela Community School in Brent has hit the headlines again following the recent High Court judgement. The controversy highlights the pressing need to reform our archaic laws on religious worship for state-educated children.
Michaela school was taken to Court in January by a Muslim pupil. She argued that its ban on prayer rituals was a ‘breach of her right to freedom to manifest her religious beliefs.’ This was rejected in the ruling on 16 April on the grounds that the pupil had ‘…chosen the School knowing of its strict regime; on the evidence she was able to move to a suitable school which would allow her to pray at lunchtime; and, in any event, she was able to perform Qada prayers in order to mitigate the fact that she was not able to pray at the allotted time.’
The judge further ruled that the disadvantage to Muslim pupils at the school caused by its policy was outweighed by its aim of promoting the interests of the school community as a whole, including Muslim pupils.
Currently the only law which specifically governs religious practice in English state schools is the requirement for a daily act of Christian worship. Such a law is found nowhere else in the world. It has been condemned by the UN as a breach of the Rights of the Child. Calls for abolition have come from the National Governance Association, most teaching unions, and peers in a debate in the House of Lords in January. In 2019 Humanists UK supported parents in Oxford in their successful High Court challenge to mandatory collective worship at their child’s school on human rights grounds. The Government needs to give serious thought to creating clear rules and guidance fit for today’s world. These would protect children’s freedom of religion or belief while making sure our education system is fair and inclusive to all. Mandatory collective worship should be replaced with an inclusive form of assembly that makes all pupils feel welcomed, while making reasonable accommodation for those who want to worship privately where it doesn’t infringe the rights of others. Otherwise, we will inevitably see more cases being brought and resentment continuing to build within our school system.
Paul Kaufman
Chairperson, East London Humanists
