Education Secretary advised to tackle ‘neglected’ RE lessons

The new Education Secretary has been urged to address “tokenistic” Religious Education (RE) in schools.

The National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE) warned that “RE is the most neglected subject in terms of resources”, despite the long-term growth of children taking Religious Studies (RS) at GCSE.

The subject leaders highlighted that 51 per cent of those teaching RE mainly teach another subject, and the number of specialist RE teachers has remained stagnant since 2011. In contrast, those delivering Geography and History lessons have risen by 1,700.

‘Poor quality’

Deborah Weston OBE, Chair of the RE Policy Unit, said: “Poor quality, tokenistic RE taught by non-specialists without subject training, has a knock on effect not just on our communities, but the depth and quality of a young person’s education.

“Properly taught, GCSE RS provides invaluable academic and life skills that enables young people to think meaningfully about life’s big questions in relation to their own beliefs and those of others.”

Sarah Lane Cawte, Chair of the Religious Education Council, added: “Now is the time for action to safeguard the subject and meet the demand for high-quality RE in our schools and communities.”

‘Religious illiteracy’

The Christian Institute’s Head of Education John Denning stated: “It is encouraging that more and more pupils are taking GCSE RS in some schools, but concerning that so many others continue to struggle to meet even the basic legal requirements for RE.

“This contributes to religious illiteracy and robs children of the basic knowledge of Christian beliefs that they need to make sense of British culture and history, let alone considering these beliefs for themselves.

“Without good RE teachers, schools will continue to struggle, but there are organisations which help schools deliver teaching on Christianity within RE lessons in partnership with local churches, as well as opportunities for local churches to be represented on the committees which draw up the RE curriculum.”

Christian

Earlier this year, Ofsted warned that a number of schools in England are failing to meet the legal requirement to teach Religious Education at all stages of pupils’ schooling.

In its review, “Deep and meaningful? The religious education subject report”, the school inspectorate found that syllabuses often lacked “sufficient substance” and that children remembered “very little” when many religions were covered.

The law requires that the RE curriculum in state-funded schools without a specific religious designation “reflects the fact that religious traditions in Britain are in the main Christian.” The Christian Institute’s founder and Director Colin Hart, who died in March, was instrumental in getting this provision onto the statute book.