Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has hit out at critics of faith schools this week, stating that faith schools are a vital component of the education system in the UK and has denied claims that faith schools are socially divisive. His comments, made in a speech to the National Church Schools Conference, came amid growing concern that faith schools implement selective admissions procedures that ensure that predominantly white, middle class pupils gain entry. There is also a growing worry that other religious groups and minorities are being excluded, creating a divide in communities. That faith schools exclude poorer pupils, I have no doubt. Research has shown that the number of pupils on free school meals in faith schools is as low as 5% in some areas where the average is 15%. A study conducted in the East London borough of Tower Hamlets in 2002 found that in 4 faith schools, only 3% of pupils were of Bangladeshi origin, compared with over 90% in 3 non-demoninational schools in the same area. However, the issue that concerns me most is that of teaching within faith schools. The Archbishop said that schools with a religious ethos provide 'the broadest possible access to ideas' - What kind of ideas does he mean? In Newcastle there is a school teaching Creationism as part of the Biology course - Is this really something children should be taught in school science lessons? I think there is a real danger in mixing science and belief, particularly in the minds of children. There needs to be a very clear line between religious education and hard facts and science. Coupled with this is the fact that a faith school can never really represent a cross section of the society we live in, by its very definition. Responding to the criticisms, the Church of England has opened its doors to children of other religious denominations, but there is still a predominance within these organisations of one particular religion and the teachings of that religion. The National Secular Society has warned that an increase in faith schools (there are some 7,000 in the UK and the government recently unveiled plans to expand the number of state funded faith schools) will produce religious and often racial segregation at a crucial time in the lives of children. An ICM poll showed that 64% of the population believe that the government should not support faith schools, yet more and more funding is being handed over to these institutions. In answer to the questions, I must answer that unfortunately yes, faith schools do have a future. However, I believe that their needs to be radical reform of the controls placed on faith schools by the government and local authorities, to stop backdoor selection and ensure that faith school truly represent the community they serve. This should be coupled with a clear division between religious studies and academic studies and children should be exposed to lessons informing them of the beliefs and practices of all religions, not just the one that is forced upon them by the institution in which they are educated.