In case you missed it Cristina Odone has written a report for the Centre for Policy Studies about the Government's wrong-headed "betrayal" of faith schools. Amongst its points are that:
- Faith schools represent a third of all primary schools, but two-thirds of the top 200
- Faith schools do not, as the Government insinuates, turn away "looked after" children
- Faith schools are not divisive, all 77 people (apart from one who was home-schooled) convicted under the Terrorism Act went to state schools, for example
Her Times column focuses on the benefits of Muslim schools:
"Many see this inquisition as the latest twist in Labour's internal politics. With Gordon Brown's succession being discussed openly, the ambitious Mr Balls is wooing the strident secularists who make up the old Labour rump. But there is another constituency that he would be foolish to ignore: Britain's 1.8 million Muslims. Faith schools offer a bridge between their religious community and the wider secular society; and for Muslim girls they are the route from the kitchen sink to university."
