Challenge to faith schools plan

Local government leaders are demanding the Government impose limits on new faith schools to avoid creating more ethnic and racial divisions.

In a response today to the Government's education White Paper, which welcomed new faith schools "where there is clear local agreement", the Local Government Association urged ministers to place a bar on the creation of new Voluntary Aided Schools - statefunded schools in which a particular faith group controls admissions.

Instead, new schools should all be Voluntary Controlled - like the majority of existing Church of England schools - giving faith groups representation on the governing body, but leaving admissions in the hands of the local education authority.

It says a limit should be placed, possibly 25 per cent, on the proportion of pupils admitted solely on the basis of their faith. The rest should reflect the religious balance of the local community.

LGA education chairman Graham Lane said: "In a multi-racial society, people from different communities need to be educated together to learn to respect each other's cultural traditions."