Religious Education is outdated, unpopular and opens the door to proselytising.
There are many more subjects children and young people need to learn.
It's time to replace RE with something more appropriate for 21st century students.
It is important for children and young people to learn about different religions and beliefs. But we don't think our schools need a dedicated subject to do this – especially a subject as out-of-date and as irrelevant as Religious Education (RE).
Surveys consistently show RE is one of the least popular school subjects, an indication of its increasing irrelevance.
58% of British adults think religious studies is unimportant at secondary schools. And a quarter of England's secondary schools do not offer RE.
Unlike any other compulsory subject, RE is determined at a local level in England. In each local authority the agreed syllabus for RE is determined by committees representing the Church of England and other religion and belief groups, as well as the local authority and teacher's groups.
As a result, schools not only face a local lottery regarding what their RE syllabus will contain; they will have to teach a subject under significant control from religious interest groups. These groups are strongly motivated to ensure their religion is represented in an overwhelmingly positive light. The current arrangements mean the subject lacks objectivity.
Many faith schools don't even need to follow the locally agreed syllabus and can instead teach religion from their own exclusive viewpoint.
A new nationally-determined civics and citizenship subject could encompass teaching about religious and nonreligious worldviews and allow students to consider moral and ethical issues. Religion and belief could also be explored in other relevant areas of the curriculum.
In Wales, RE has recently been replaced with Religions, Values and Ethics (RVE). While we welcome this broader and more inclusive subject, problems remain regarding the influence of religious groups and exceptions allowing faith schools to teach confessional RE.
We need a reformed subject to ensure education about religion and belief is broad, balanced and proportionate.
We've created a series of resources – Exploring Secularism – for anyone wishing to explore issues of religion, belief, ethics, and worldviews in schools. The resources aim to provide teachers with the material they need to engage with secularism in an informed way.
As British society considers how to respond to greater religious diversity and growing irreligiosity, it is become increasingly important for children and young people to develop their understanding of the interaction between religion, society, and politics. The study of secularism explores this interaction, together with questions about how we balance freedom of, and from, religion with other rights.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Support our campaign to ensure every pupil has the same entitlement to high quality, non-partisan education about religious and non-religious worldviews.
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
3. Join us
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
NSS launches new range of school resources: Exploring Secularism
Posted: Wed, 20 Mar 2019 07:49
The National Secular Society has launched a new range of resources for secondary school students and teachers to explore key questions related to secularism and religion's role in society.
Along with a website covering a wide range of topics, the first major resources to be published are Exploring Secularism: A guide for teachers and The Core Principles Resource Pack. The Core Principles pack features 19 original resources, presentations, exercises and stimuli for students to explore secularism's basic political philosophy of separation, freedom and equality.
Questions explored in Core Principles include: What is secularism? Is secularism a religion? How do secularists think about religion? And what different types of secularism are there?
The NSS's head of education Alastair Lichten said: "Secularism raises significant questions about how we balance freedom of, and from, religion with other rights. These are some of the most important questions which arise in all of the humanities, from religious and belief education to citizenship, and from the arts to history.
"Exploring Secularism provides teachers with the material they need to ask these questions in an informed way. It is not a manifesto of answers. It encourages students to explore a range of possible answers and come to some of their own.
"We've spent over two years developing these resources and it's exciting to finally make these available for all schools. As well as improving basic understanding of secularism, these resources will enrich schools' engagement with some of the most pressing debates involving religion's role in society.
"The Commission on Religious Education has recognised secularism as a key concept in the study of religion and worldviews. By using Exploring Secularism, students and teachers will join a long tradition of people from all faiths and none, of artists and authors, of politicians and philosophers, judges and theologians, all of whom have grappled with these debates."
There has been positive feedback to the resources from teachers involved in the test group.
Dr Emma Park, an academic and classics teacher from London, called Exploring Secularism "a wide-ranging resource which sets out the key ingredients of secularism and its relation to religion, the state, and pressing issues in our society such as free speech and equality."
She added that the resources were "clear, analytical and thorough" and said it "should be valuable for teachers of PSHE, philosophy, citizenship and RE alike".
Jo Teage, an RE teacher from Bristol, said the project provided "thoughtful resources that are adaptable to different abilities and ages, with terms explained for teachers".
"These will spark conversation and teach young people about some of the most important issues facing society today."
Welsh government to put non-religious worldviews on curriculum
Posted: Tue, 29 Jan 2019 12:10
The Welsh government plans to legislate to include non-religious worldviews in its school curriculum and ensure non-religious representatives are appointed to local bodies which determine how religious education is taught.
On Monday Wales's Department for Education and Skills said it would "encompass non-religious views that are analogous to religious views" in the curriculum and on RE advisory bodies.
It made the announcement in a consultation document on legislative changes needed for the new curriculum, Our National Mission: A Transformational Curriculum.
The document says the Welsh government proposes to legislate to amend "the current provisions regarding the description of an agreed syllabus".
"It is our intention also that RE reflects our historical and contemporary relationship in Wales to philosophy and religious views, including non-religious beliefs. Therefore the current legislation will be amended to ensure the agreed syllabus for RE takes account of non-religious worldviews which are analogous to religions (e.g. humanism)."
It adds that membership of Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education (SACREs) should similarly be opened up to incorporate representatives of non-religious worldviews. SACREs advise local authorities on the content of their RE curricula.
RE will form part of a humanities area of learning and experience (AoLE), along with history, geography and business and social studies. The document says "essential aspects of learning" will be outlined across each AoLE, rather than within individual subjects.
The proposals mirror many of those outlined in a recent report from the Commission on RE, which proposed a national entitlement to 'Religion and Worldviews' education in England. They also align with some of the priorities outlined in the National Secular Society's 21st Century RE for All campaign, which aims to end local and faith based determination in English and Welsh RE.
The Welsh government says its changes will take account of the requirement to pay due attention to non-religious worldviews alongside religious ones under the Human Rights Act of 1998.
It also says it is "keen to explore" how to "modernise" the law around the right to withdraw from both RE and Relationships and Sex Education (RSE).
Currently parents have the right to withdraw children from RE, and from RSE unless it forms part of the National Curriculum programme of study. Pupils cannot withdraw themselves.
The document says ministers will "welcome views on the case for change and any specific ideas of how to modernise this area". It adds that they will aim to "ensure the rights of children and young people are central to considerations" and give due regard to "the impact on all protected characteristics".
But it proposes allowing faith schools to continue to teach denominational religious education.
Currently Wales's voluntary aided schools, where religious groups have a particularly strong influence, must teach RE in accordance with the tenets of their religion. Other schools with a religious character are required to follow the local syllabus but RE can still be used to promote the faith ethos..
The document also proposes no reform of the requirement on schools to hold a "broadly Christian" act of worship daily.
It proposes that all school sixth formers have an entitlement to learn about RE without an obligation to study it. While all sixth formers in England and Wales are supposed to study RE, this is not enforced. The document also proposes repealing an exemption which currently means RE is not taught to pupils in nursery classes.
The NSS engaged with the Welsh government throughout the process, including by meeting policy makers. The society also provided research on issues including the distortion of sex education in Welsh faith schools.
The NSS's head of education Alastair Lichten said: "The ambition for all pupils to have a 21st century curriculum, designed in Wales, has provided a once in a generation opportunity to fundamentally rethink education about religion and belief. It's sad to see such ambition tempered by the 'need' to appease religious interests. The proposals include many positive steps forward, but ultimately more fundamental reforms are required.
"While the government has listened to our concerns about discriminatory and shame-based sex education in Welsh faith schools, they will continue to teach the subject in accordance with their ethos. We all know what that's a euphemism for.
"The Welsh government has rightly realised that it's untenable to teach about worldviews without considering those which reject traditional religious ways of thinking. Simply opening up an advertising space for Humanism alongside other religions isn't enough. But embedding education about worldviews within a wider humanities area of learning, rather than exceptionalising it, shows a way forward for a troubled subject.
"It's also encouraging to see that ministers are open-minded about the decades-old law which allows parents to withdraw their children from RE and RSE. Ultimately this should be repealed, though only after the teaching of religion and belief is reformed so critically-informed inquiry is its primary goal in all schools.
"If we want to truly defend children's right to a decent education, we should stop letting faith schools use RE as a promotional opportunity. Ultimately the best way to do that would be to reconsider the whole future of state-funded faith schools.
"The Welsh government should also reconsider the requirement on schools to hold daily collective worship, which amounts to a state endorsement of Christian teaching. Where schools enforce worship, it is inherently coercive and undermines freedom of and from religion."
The consultation is running until 25 March. Mr Lichten said the NSS looked forward to responding to it in due course.
