15/05/2022
Humanists UK, which is an umbrella group for non-religious people nationwide, has welcomed the proposals in the Queen’s Speech ahead of the new Parliamentary session, to close down illegal and unregistered schools. The network says that it is a major victory for a campaign that they have been running for the past ten years. They say “at least 6,000 children have been identified as in these schools. In many cases, children are made to study religious texts for up to 12 hours a day, they are often exposed to extremist literature, and many schools operate in environments that are dirty and unsafe”. Much of the “extremist literature” to which Humanists UK refer, includes violently anti-gay and anti-trans material. Humanists UK Education Campaigns Manager Robert Cann said: ‘We’re delighted to see these proposals at long last. Since 2014 we have been leading the campaign to shut down illegal schools, many of which are religious in nature”.
