Religious Education is outdated, unpopular and opens the door to proselytising.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 But we don't think our schools need a dedicated subject to do this – especially a subject as out-of-date and as irrelevant as Religious Education (RE).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
Majority want secular state schooling – while RE declines
Posted: Wed, 30 Jan 2013 12:24
The majority of British people want state-funded schools to be secular, a recent YouGov poll has revealed.
The poll, conducted on behalf of Prospect magazine, asked whether the Government should "make all state schools secular and stop them having special links with the Christian, Jewish, Muslim or any other religion". Nearly half of those surveyed (48%) agreed that state schools should be entirely secular. Those opposing stood at 38%, while an additional 14% said they "don't know".
Support for secular state schools was strongest in Scotland, with 63% in favour. Opposition was at its highest in the North, at 43%.
The question was posed as part of a wider survey on education. The poll also found strong support for a ban on schools supplying unhealthy food and drink (72%) and mobile phones in the classroom (83%). Three quarters expressed their support for a return to "traditional" history teaching covering the main dates and events in British history and teaching students "to be proud ofBritain's past".
See the complete poll (pdf).
Meanwhile, the Government's introduction of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is having a negative impact on school provision of non-EBacc subjects, including religious education (RE), according to a new survey of schoolteachers.
Among respondents, 13% reported a decline in provision for RE in their schools as a consequence of the EBacc (3% more than recorded that their schools were planning to cut RE in a similar survey in May 2011). Comparable reductions in provision for other non-EBacc subjects were: 14% for citizenship, music, and personal, social and health education; 15% for information and communication technology; and 16% for art and design and technology.
Source: Online survey of over 2,500 schoolteachers by the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), the largest teachers' union.
NSS questions new report on Religious Education
Posted: Mon, 26 Nov 2012 14:45
A new report from Oxford University, which says that teachers are afraid to teach religious education in case they are perceived as "evangelising", has been questioned today by the National Secular Society.
The report says that according to a poll it has undertaken, two thirds of people think RE should be taught in schools and that Christianity should be given preference.
But a closer look at the sponsors of this research shows it has received £48,500 funding from a strongly evangelical organisation, the Jerusalem Trust which is underpinned by money from the Sainsbury family.
Among the Jerusalem Trust's stated aims are: "to advance the Christian religion" and "Evangelism and Christian mission in the UK: Trustees are particularly interested in Christian projects that develop new ways of working with children and young people."
The University received a further £100,000 from Culham and St Gabriel's Trust, a Christian organisation with links to the Church of England, which runs an organisation called RE Today whose sole purpose is to advance the strength and prominence of religious education in schools.
The Oxford Study also produced an opinion poll that showed two thirds of the population in favour of religious education and the importance of Christianity, although the poll has not been published, so it is difficult to know what questions were asked and how they were framed in order to get these results.
Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said: "This study has been reported with very little mention of who has sponsored it and what their motives are. Is it just evangelical Christians surreptitiously pushing forward their agenda under a respectable academic cover?"
Mr Sanderson said that The National Secular Society is receiving an increasing number of complaints from parents about the intensity and often evangelical nature of religious education that is being taught in schools – even community schools.
"Parents contact us frequently with stories of their children having been told that if they don't believe in God there will be dire consequences for them. One parent said that her child had been told that the Bible is the most important book they will ever read and much more important than any science book.
"Religious education will always be a happy hunting ground for the evangelically minded. They realise that the cross-over point from education to proselytising is very hard to define."
