Muslim parents sending their children to Christian schools to prepare them for 'life in modern Britain'

Muslim parents are sending their children to Christian schools to prepare them for “life in modern Britain”, according to a senior figure at the Church of England.

Rev Nigel Genders, the Church’s chief education officer, said Muslim families see Christian schools as an attractive option because children will be able to integrate with the wider community from a young age.

While some schools have a tendency to “squeeze out” and “marginalise” religious education from the curriculum, Church schools “take faith seriously” and offer pupils “spiritual as well as academic development”, he said.

Mr Genders told The Daily Telegraph: “You never quite know what people’s motives are. Part of the feedback we get about why parents choose our schools is they know they will get a much more diverse sense of community rather than being separated out.”

His comments come after it emerged that Muslim pupils outnumber Christian children in more than 30 church schools. This includes one C of E primary that has had a “100% Muslim population”.

Writing in a blog post published on the C of E's website, Mr Genders said: “We constantly hear from Muslim parents who tell us that they choose our schools precisely because we take faith seriously and offer an approach to education that gives attention to spiritual as well as academic development.

“They welcome the opportunity to send their children to a school which will ensure mutual understanding of faiths whilst being clear about the Christian heritage and underpinning narrative on which its ethos and values are based.”

He added: “Like the millions of others who have attended such a school, they know that we prepare children for life in modern Britain and a world that is increasingly connected.”

Alluding to President Trump’s immigration ban on nationals from seven majority-Muslim countries, Rev Genders added: “We are proud that our Church of England schools are modelling an education where no passports are required and the doors are wide open to the communities they serve.”

Around a million school children in England attend one of the Church's 4,700 schools, and around half of its schools do not select on faith. Last autumn, the Government announced proposals to relax rules that currently prevent faith schools from selecting more than half of pupils according to religion.

In its response to the proposals, the Church of England said it would not push for schools to be allowed to select more than 50% of pupils based on faith.

Ofsted now inspects all state schools on whether they promote British values, including democracy, liberty and mutual respect and tolerance.

The move came in the wake of the Trojan Horse scandal, which centred on an alleged move by a small group of hard-line Muslims to seize control of a small number of schools in Birmingham.