Gove urges church to extend role in education I welcome the report and look forward to working with Bishop John Pritchard to extend the role of the Church in the provision of schools. He also praised the Church for "driving in the first instance" the provision of education. The Church of England is still the biggest single provider of education in Britain, teaching one million pupils in 4,800 schools. It is involved in 154 academies in England. The Church's review came after a reduction in local authority provision of education, which gives potential for a new generation of faith schools. There had been some concerns over Mr Gove's commitment to faith in the schools after allegations that the importance of religious education has been downgraded. He has also supported attempts by some faith schools to keep more than half their places for religious families. David Cameron has previously been a vocal backer of faith schools and his daughter was educated at a Church of England school. He has called for an increased role for religion in public life and Baroness Warsi, the Cabinet Office minister, has warned of the dangers of "aggressive secularism."