Religious Education is outdated, unpopular and opens the door to proselytising.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 But we don't think our schools need a dedicated subject to do this – especially a subject as out-of-date and as irrelevant as Religious Education (RE).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
Religious pressure resisted as Welsh RE reform plans progress
Posted: Wed, 9 Dec 2020 13:11
A major curriculum reform bill which would replace religious education with a more pluralistic alternative in Wales will proceed to the next parliamentary stage after a Senedd committee's recommendation.
The Children, Young People and Education Committee has recommended that the Senedd agree the general principles of the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Bill.
The National Secular Society was among groups who gave evidence during the committee's scrutiny of the bill, and the committee's report drew heavily on the NSS's evidence.
The bill will replace RE with religion, values and ethics (RVE), among other reforms, which include making comprehensive relationships and sexuality education (RSE) compulsory.
The committee did not recommend further religious exemptions or loopholes in the bill, despite calls from some faith groups including the Catholic Education Service (CES).
The CES has rigorously objected in particular to the fact the bill will require faith schools to offer a pluralistic RVE option that must be in accordance with the locally agreed syllabus.
NSS position on the bill
The NSS largely supports the Welsh government's efforts to reform RE, although it has warned that ministers risk falling short of their own ambitions.
The society's concerns include the fact that the new syllabus will still allow faith schools to teach a denominational form of RVE, although they will be required to offer a more objective and pluralistic option where parents request it.
The NSS has also raised concerns that some pupils will miss out on comprehensive rights-based RSE where faith schools are permitted to teach it through an often discriminatory religious ethos.
The NSS has long argued that children should receive an objective and pluralistic education on religion and belief.
Committee's key recommendations
In a report outlining its findings, published last Friday, the committee said the Welsh government should:
- Consider concerns around the purpose of local bodies which determine RE curricula, currently known as standing advisory councils on religious education (SACREs). It noted NSS criticisms of SACREs, which tend to be heavily influenced by religious interests.
- Launch a myth-busting campaign around relationships and sex education – a recommendation which the NSS helped to secure.
- Clarify why the bill did not provide for older children to choose the form of RVE they prefer when they are mature enough.
- Consider how it can ensure the place of human rights, including children's rights, is "secure in the long-term" in the curriculum.
- Prescribe more key material where there are concerns it could otherwise drop off the syllabus.
NSS extensively quoted in report
The report featured mentions of the NSS's concerns around:
- Faith schools' ongoing ability to teach a denominational syllabus.
- Plans to remove the parental right to withdraw children from RVE while the potential remained for the subject to be used as a vehicle for proselytisation.
- The fact that the bill does not contain plans to abolish the requirement on schools to hold acts of collective worship.
In response to the report's publication the NSS has now briefed members of the Senedd, who are due to debate the bill and the committee's report next week.
NSS comment
NSS head of education Alastair Lichten said: "The committee has rightly resisted religious pressure which would water down children's right to a pluralistic and critically-informed education on religion and belief.
"It's also made several helpful recommendations which should prompt ministers to take further steps to put children's interests before those of religious groups."
C of E’s control of RE damages subject’s credibility, says study
Posted: Wed, 9 Dec 2020 08:51
The Church of England's theological approach to religious education has come to dominate the subject amid a lack of leadership from national government, research has found.
The findings come in Understanding Christianity and the study of religion and worldviews, an academic study by former RE teacher Chris Selway which is published today.
The study says that, with often poorly-funded regional advisory councils in charge of RE syllabuses, there has been "a surge in resources that emphasise scriptural-based learning".
It says a government failure to provide funding for academics and other experts to guide the subject has helped to create this vacuum.
And it adds that major resource providers funded by Christian trusts have increasingly assumed control over the subject and moulded it to suit their vision.
Understanding Christianity
It says the widely-used resource Understanding Christianity exemplifies the way RE is used to advance the C of E's vision for education.
Its criticisms of the resource include that:
- It lacks a historical framework to help pupils understand the development of Christianity.
- It promotes poorly-evidenced assertions about what motivates Christians and presents Christian beliefs as largely monolithic.
- It tends to depict Christian teachings as timeless and uncontroversial, neglecting to consider contradictions and conflicts which would undermine that narrative.
- It asks leading questions, such as "What did Jesus do to save human beings?"
- It emphasises only the positive impact of Christianity and helps to perpetuate the essentialising of religion which academics have identified as a serious weakness in the subject.
Over 10% of local authorities have adopted syllabuses that rely on Understanding Christianity, which is funded by a Christian trust that works closely with the C of E.
As a result the resource is used in both many C of E schools and many secular schools.
Key recommendations
The paper argues that several changes are necessary if RE is to gain credibility with the public:
- It should be taught through an objective, critically-engaged and pluralistic approach.
- Education about religion should explore both the positive and negative consequences of religion in a balanced way.
- RE should take "more of a socio-historical or anthropological approach", rather than one which is focused on theology.
- There should be a "major shift" in the funding and management of RE.
It also asks whether such a wholesale restructuring of the subject is possible given the influence which powerful groups such as the C of E exercise over the RE curriculum.
And it says this prompts the question of whether a new subject that "encompasses wider cultural, political, religious and societal diversity and how they interact" may be more appropriate than RE.
Comments
Report author Chris Selway said: "The lack of an external body to set out a clear disciplinary field for religious education has led to a situation where Christian–funded and oriented organisations have been increasingly able to seize control of the subject.
"This has led to a surge in resources that emphasise scriptural–based learning and a predominance of theology as a discipline for studying religion, particularly when studying Christianity.
"It seems clear that the way RE is administered, resourced, taught and monitored need to be remodelled, to ensure religion is taught in a balanced way."
Alastair Lichten, the National Secular Society's head of education, said: "Too often RE is dominated by vested interests and associated group think, and this paper powerfully highlights the way it's been used to advance the Church of England's interests.
"RE currently lacks a unified framework and agreed purpose, leaving the door open for unaccountable groups to impose their own. Everyone who cares about education on religion and belief should be concerned.
"Chris Selway's report makes a significant contribution to debate in this area, and should prompt some uncomfortable questions at both local and national levels."
Notes
- In 2018 a report from the Commission on Religious Education recommended replacing RE with 'Religion and Worldviews' and introducing a national entitlement to it in England.
- Earlier this year the Welsh government published legislation to replace RE with a more pluralistic subject, called Religion, Values and Ethics.
- The research was supported by the NSS's scholarship programme.
