Religious Education is outdated, unpopular and opens the door to proselytising.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 But we don't think our schools need a dedicated subject to do this – especially a subject as out-of-date and as irrelevant as Religious Education (RE).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
Head teacher apologises after ordering pupils to attend Islam awareness trip or face punishment for 'racism'
Posted: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 21:37
A head teacher has been forced to apologise after threatening to punish children for racism if they missed a religious awareness workshop.
Parents of children at Littleton Green Community School in Cannock were angered by a letter sent from the school informing them that a 'racial discrimination note' would be attached to their child's education record if they did not attend a workshop about Islam as part of the children's "cultural education".
Donna Ward, whose daughter attends the school, told the Express & Star: "It's not our religion. We should have a right to stop our children going."
Defending the decision, the school's head teacher, Lynn Small, said that exposing the pupils to other faiths was part of the school's statutory duty. She said: "We are a mainly Christian school, but we have to cover at least one other religion as part of the national curriculum."
After an intervention from the local authority the school has since written to parents to apologise for "inaccuracies" in the previous correspondence. In the letter, the school's head teacher asked parents to "on reflection disregard a section from the earlier letter."
Stephen Evans, campaigns manager at the National Secular Society, said: "It is useful for young people to understand the significance of religion in society, and the importance of faith to many people.
"However, many parents are concerned about the way education about religion is currently handled in schools, and it is not uncommon for them to face difficulties when attempting to exercise their right to withdraw.
"We find parents are often unjustifiably accused of 'bigotry' for wanting to withdraw their children from biased RE classes, but the conflation of race with religion in this particular case is particularly disturbing."
THE ORIGINAL LETTER IN FULL:
Dear Parent/Carer,
As part of the National Religious Education Curriculum together with the multicultural community in which we live, it is a statutory requirement for Primary School aged children to experience and learn about different cultures.
The workshop is at Staffordshire University and will give your child the opportunity to explore other religions.
Children will be looking at religious artefacts similar to those that would be on display in a museum. they will not be partaking in any religious practices.
Refusal to allow your child to attend this trip will result in a Racial Discrimination note being attached to your child's education record, which will remain on this file throughout their school career.
As such our expectations are that all children in years 4 and 6 attend school on Wednesday 27th November to take part in this trip.
All absences on this day will be investigated for their credibility and will only be sanctioned with a GP sick note.
If you would like to discuss this further please contact our RE Coordinator, Mrs Edmonds.
NSS welcomes Ofsted analysis of the state of RE, but warns recommendations don't go far enough
Posted: Sat, 5 Oct 2013 22:56
The National Secular Society has welcomed a new analysis of the state of religious education in schools from the education regulator Ofsted, but has warned its report's recommendations don't go far enough.
The report, Religious education: realising the potential found a confused sense of purpose of what religious education is supposed to be about. This, coupled with weaknesses in the way religious education is examined, meant too many pupils were leaving school with low levels of subject knowledge and understanding.
The report found most GCSE RE teaching failed to secure the core aim of the examination specifications – to enable pupils 'to adopt an enquiring, critical and reflective approach to the study of religion'.
Achievement and teaching in RE in the 90 primary schools visited by inspectors were less than good in six in 10 schools. Achievement and teaching in RE in the 91 secondary schools visited were only good or better in just under half of the schools.
At present community schools and voluntary controlled faith schools follow a locally agreed syllabus drawn up by local committees comprising of teachers, local churches, faith groups and the local authority. Voluntary aided faith schools and academies and free schools with a religious character are permitted to teach RE from a selective, exclusive or confessional viewpoint.
The report recommends a review of the current statutory arrangements for RE in relation to the principle of local determination. It also calls on the Department for Education to ensure that religious education is monitored more closely, particularly in secondary schools.
Ofsted recommends that schools should ensure that RE has a "stronger focus on deepening pupils' understanding of the nature, diversity and impact of religion and belief in the contemporary world."
The National Secular Society welcomed the call for a review of the statutory arrangements for religious education but said the whole concept of RE now needed a radical rethink.
Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns manager, said: "This report paints a bleak but realistic picture of the state of RE in schools. However, the report's recommendations fall well short of what is needed, not only to improve the academic and personal development of pupils, but to also ensure that the rights of children and young people, and their parents, are respected.
"Many faith schools do not treat religious education as an academic subject but as an opportunity for evangelising. With the freedom to determine their own syllabus for RE, many schools with a religious character abuse the subject and use it for missionising.
"Young people would be better served by a new National Curriculum subject under a different name that allows pupils to take a more objective and religiously neutral approach to the consideration of moral and ethical issues. Such a subject would cover a variety of religious, non-religious and secular philosophies and worldviews.
"Importantly, religion and belief groups should have no privileged input into the syllabus. As with other subjects, the syllabus should be nationally determined by independent educationalists without an agenda motivated by a specific religion or belief."
Read the Ofsted report, Religious education: realising the potential
Read the National Secular Society's briefing paper on religious education
