Faith schools and gender segregation: a worrying trend

“It is not just gender segregation policies that can foster a hostile environment for female pupils. Ofsted has also been vocal about widespread sexism and misogyny within ‘faith’ schools.”

Last week, an Islamic school in Birmingham was caught advertising for a male-only science teacher. The advert, since removed from their Twitter page, made it clear that the school would only be hiring for a male teacher.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has since stated that gender specific job adverts are ‘discriminatory and unlawful, unless an occupational requirement applies’.  In other words, in order to justify this discrimination, the school would have needed to prove that there was a clear link between the specific job and the need for the teacher to be male. It is hard to see how this could be applied for the role as a science teacher. The headmaster of the Salafi Independent School has claimed that the decision was made because of ‘religious observance reasons’.

The event can be seen as part of a wider issue of gender inequalities faced by both teachers and students in ‘faith’ schools across the UK. And this is not confined merely to the initial hiring of teachers. Once hired, male and female staff members may continue to face unequal treatment in a variety of ways.

“The sexist policies of these ‘faith’ schools do nothing to challenge these damaging stereotypes.”

For instance, in 2015 Ofsted reported that the Rabia School in Luton was segregating male and female members of staff during training programs, and expecting the women to watch the broadcasted sessions from a separate room. A dividing screen was even erected during an initial meeting with Ofsted.

Pupils are also frequent targets of these gender segregating policies. Ofsted has found cases of segregation in Islamic, Jewish, and Christian ‘faith’ schools. FSA has previously reported on a madrassa where girls were taught by a male teacher from an adjacent room. Books were passed through a hole in the wall to ensure there was no contact.

The Rabia School was also condemned in the same Ofsted report for practising ‘unequal treatment of girls and boys’. For example, as part of the design and technology curriculum, girls were denied access to the boy’s laboratory, and limited to ‘knitting and sewing’. These actions not only signal a lack of respect for gender equality and tolerance, but are also clearly unlawful. Ofsted has argued in a number of cases that gender segregation policies of ‘faith’ schools can be considered discriminatory under the Equality Act 2010 as the policies tend to place women at an inferior level to men.

“One mother reported her daughter being told that her knee length dress was ‘disgusting’.”

It is not just gender segregation policies that can foster a hostile environment for female pupils. Ofsted has also been vocal about widespread sexism and misogyny within ‘faith’ schools. Grindon Hall Christian School and Durham Free School were both criticised by inspectors for not discouraging a sexist and homophobic culture. Accelerated Christian Education schools have been reported as teaching that women are to be subservient to their husbands, their pastor, and other male figures. And other Christian ‘faith’ schools have also been criticised for not teaching pupils a full Relationships and Sex Education curriculum, avoiding topics related to women’s reproductive rights and sexuality.

Gender segregation policies often go hand in hand with strict uniform policies for female pupils. FSA has previously reported on a Modern Orthodox Jewish School, with split campuses for boys and girls, where girls faced teachers who had an ‘obsession with dress code and skirt length’. One mother reported her daughter being told that her knee length dress was ‘disgusting’. Another Jewish school was banned from admitting new pupils in 2016 in part because it was teaching pupil that ‘women showing bare arms and legs are impure.’

Numerous other ‘faith’ schools have been accused of not promoting British values, too. A Jewish Independent school was failed by Ofsted in 2016 in part for inadequately preparing pupils for ‘life in modern Britain’ – including reporting that pupils demonstrated ‘stereotypical views on the roles of men and women, with men “going to work” and women “cooking and cleaning”.’ In January last year, a Muslim school in Tower Hamlets was found to have books in its library that promoted the inequality of men and women, and which also included details about punishments such as ‘stoning to death’.

The opportunity for children to learn and socialise together is part of their preparation for life after school. Schools are also places where children pick up a huge amount of the information on gender roles and gender stereotypes. Tragically, a recent study found that by the age of six, girls already believe that being smart, and being brilliant, are male traits. The sexist policies of these ‘faith’ schools do nothing to challenge these damaging stereotypes.

FSA team

Five ‘ACE’ years: my story of a fundamentalist education – part one

“Even the smallest of our actions had the potential for grave consequences and the day to day living of life felt like a heavy responsibility, even for a small child. With this power to intimidate and threaten, it was easy to bully, manipulate and coerce.”

I spent five years between the ages of 12 and 17, memorising bible passages, reading Christian fundamentalist literature and preparing to be a godly woman – meaning a subservient wife, home-maker and mother.

After leaving primary school, I never entered into a secondary school.  This is a perfectly legal option in the UK, to take your child out of the school system in order to be ‘educated otherwise’. These two words, ‘educated otherwise’ were repeated over and over by my mother who proudly explained her legal right to all who asked why her five children weren’t in school. I would be brought forward to give my speech; coached to say how much I enjoyed being home schooled, how I was enabled to set my own goals, work at my own pace and learn through experience rather than through books. I was told that I was lucky I didn’t have to go to school, I was lucky I had parents that cared enough to take charge of my education. Even now, as I write this, I feel guilt and a sense of anxiety opening up about what being home schooled was really like. I wasn’t ‘educated otherwise’, I was denied an education, I was denied intellectual stimulation, I was denied relationships, friendships, exposure to the world outside of the fundamentalist Christian community. I was denied a childhood.

I will talk about my time being home-schooled soon, in the second part of this blog post (which will be published here shortly). Prior to this, however, my sister and I (the 2 of the eventual 5 children old enough to be at school at this point) were initially placed in a faith school. It was newly founded by a pastor and his wife who had decided to establish a school in the attic of their church building, and asides from myself and my sister there were three other girls ranging in age from 5 to 15. The Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) curriculum was used and the classroom set up adhered to ACE’s rules. We had desks with barriers either side, so that we couldn’t see our neighbours. We had two small flags on our desk, the American flag and a flag with a cross on it. One would be raised to ask to go to the toilet and another raised for issues with our studies. We would silently study from PACEs (Packets of Accelerated Christian Education), paper booklets we had to work through independently, reading then regurgitating educational texts written from a Christian fundamentalist view point.

“I do remember feeling constantly fearful, surveyed and judged. The surveillance extended even to our menstrual cycles which were recorded by the pastor’s wife.”

Each day began with an assembly which was more like a short church service. We sang Christian worship songs, read the bible out loud, were tested on the passages we were meant to have memorised and listened to a sermon. The messages of these sermons were often quite pointed (targeted at one of us kids) and while I do not remember many details from this time, I do remember feeling constantly fearful, surveyed and judged.

The surveillance extended even to our menstrual cycles which were recorded by the pastor’s wife. I remember being called aside for a meeting with this woman who showed me my educational progress over the last month. She told me how any inconsistencies in my ability to successfully meet my goals, learn my biblical lessons and perform in my tests over the last month was evidence I was allowing my bad hormones to win over my mind and soul. Any deviation from perfection would be noted and blamed on a presumed monthly weakness. I remember trying to explain that my periods had not yet started. This didn’t matter. Any sign of weakness was failure and failure was evidence of the devil winning. I remember whenever one girl, who actually had started her periods, was suffering from cramping pain, she was continually reprimanded. Feeling pain in itself was a sin. When Jesus was crucified he broke all curses that were put upon Adam and Eve and periods (or rather the pain they bring) was one such curse. Feeling pain meant you lacked faith and lacking faith meant shame, failure, weakness and letting God down.

Another memory that stands out from this school is a particular assembly that felt more like a funeral service where we mourned the departure of one of the students (whose mother decided the school wasn’t right for her 5 year old daughter) as if she had died – no, worse that that (in evangelical terms), as if she had irredeemably lost every chance of ever going to heaven.  She had left the school and so she was a traitor. She had shown herself not to be a true Christian. During the assembly/funeral service/fire and brimstone sermon, we read Psalm 91. It made such an impact on me, I remember it with great clarity.

   ” … he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare
    and from the deadly pestilence.
 He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
 You will not fear the terror of night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    nor the plague that destroys at midday.
 A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
 You will only observe with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.”

We, the school children were safe. The deserter was one of the thousand who would fall at our side, who would be trapped by the fowlers snare, who would see pestilence and plague. In reading this Psalm at this time, it felt as if we were pronouncing a judgement, a sentence upon them. The prospect of a future in either heaven or hell was very real to us. It was in no way a distant, vague possibility. Judgement day WAS coming and there would be no escape. For this reason, even the smallest of our actions had the potential for grave consequences and the day to day living of life felt like a heavy responsibility, even for a small child. With this power to intimidate and threaten, it was easy to bully, manipulate and coerce.

My sister and myself left soon after this. I think there was a falling out between the leader of the school and our parents, the details of which I am unaware. We left suddenly and without warning. No goodbyes were said. Unfortunately, this was not the end but rather the beginning of my alternative education. The faith school was disturbing, but there was some semblance to a regular school. I got up in the morning, I left the house, I saw other people and was supervised by an adult. There were scheduled activities and a routine. Home-schooling took away all of these things…

The second part of this blog post, detailing my experiences with ACE at home, will be published on this site shortly.

Anonymous

A Righteous Education? BBC Radio 4 looks into Britain’s fundamentalist Christian schools

A chilling and thorough insight into the experiences of pupils at Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) schools. Excellent journalism and a testament to the courage and determination of former ACE pupils in trying to prevent more children from having to go through what they did.

You can listen here:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_zKmKBC3bNWcjNlY1dBNU9aQzQ/view?usp=sharing 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more information on ACE schools and the experiences of those who have attended them, read the blogs previously posted on this site.

FSA staff