The government wants to expand the number of taxpayer-funded religious schools.

A joint document signed by the Government and 'leaders' of Britain's main faiths communities, published this week, emphasised that faith schools play an important role in fostering understanding between different religions.

They promote integration and community cohesion, the report said, according to the Times newspaper.

But we have to ask the question, do faith school really create these bridges or build them? It is said that there are nearly 15,000 Muslim children and some 11,000 Jewish children who go to an independent school with a particular focus on a religion.

According to statistics, there are around 376,000 Muslim children aged between 5 and 15, but only 1,770 attend England's seven state-funded Muslim schools. But there around 15 fee-charging private Muslim schools in England.

Since some Muslim families are from poor backgrounds and can ill-afford the private fees that many faith schools require, the government paper hopes to "remove unnecessary barriers" to more state-funded faith schools. The rest are private faith schools.

In total there 37 Jewish, 7 Muslim, 2 Sikh, 1 Greek Orthodox, 1 Seventh Day Adventist government-funded schools. Most of the 6,850 such schools are either Anglican or Roman Catholic.

According to the new plans, thousands more children from minority religions will be educated in the new state funded faith schools.

This change comes amid growing fears that a generation of Muslim children are growing up segregated from the British society because their parents speak poor English or they attend an independent faith school.

This move will also give the government more control over what they will be taught.

Despite these statistics, I am not convinced that more faith schools are the answer to integration.

France has banned all religious symbols from the country's schools. They say that they want to educate their future citizens as just that - equal citizens, and not divide them by their religion.

How would providing more government-funded faith schools "promote integration and community cohesion?"

If a whole generation of children are growing up alienated from British culture, how will educating them in faith segregated schools will improve this situation?

I accept that culture cannot be enforced on people, but going to a school where children from different backgrounds can mix together would be a start. It gives them a chance to make friends with others, visit their homes and see how others live.

The government seems to want to listen only to the self-appointed faith 'leaders' than the ordinary people from those backgrounds.

I feel this is another policy that will only divide communities further.

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sabina.ahmed@asiansinmedia.org

Sabina Ahmed previously served on a BBC advisory council for local radio and the community health council.
She is a regular AIM commentator.