Religious Education is outdated, unpopular and opens the door to proselytising.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 But we don't think our schools need a dedicated subject to do this – especially a subject as out-of-date and as irrelevant as Religious Education (RE).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
Vested interest claims schools are flouting RE legal obligations
Posted: Fri, 5 Oct 2012 12:45
According to the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (NATRE), a third of secondary schools in England and Wales are not meeting legal requirements for teaching religious education.
NATRE surveyed 625 schools in the light of the exclusion of RE from the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) – the measure of school performance introduced in 2010 that focuses on the percentage of students achieving grades A* to C in GCSE English, maths, two sciences, a foreign language and history or geography.
State schools are required by law to teach RE to all pupils unless parents choose to withdraw them from these lessons.
But the NATRE study – which assessed the status of RE in schools by focusing on the provision of religious studies (RS) at GCSE through data such as exam entries and space allocated to the subject in lessons timetables – found that the legal requirement was not being fulfilled for the 14–16 age group.
Nearly 40 per cent of "faith schools" that responded to the study were found to have entered fewer than three-quarters of their eligible pupils for the GCSE RE exam. A quarter of schools had cut specialist RE teachers posts. (When rephrased to "over 60 per cent of 'faith schools' were found to have entered more than than three-quarters of their eligible pupils for the GCSE RE exam", one wonders what the fuss is about.)
The executive officer for NATRE, Rosemary Rivett, said: "The evidence shows that whether or not ministers intended it, next year's school leavers will be less religiously educated that those who did so when the Coalition came to power."
The Department for Education said that RE remained a statutory part of the wider school curriculum for every single student up to the age of 18."
Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said: "Could there be a reason why fully qualified RE teachers are so thin on the ground? Could it be that there is a dwindling interest in the subject?"
Mr Sanderson said that there were indications that schools were inviting in extremist outside bodies to fill the gap. He said that the number of evangelical groups now targeting schools was increasing.
"There may not be so much formal religious education but we are hearing of an increase in other religious activities, such as Alpha Courses and Gideon groups handing out bibles. There is also a significant increase in the number of schools advertising for (entirely publicly-funded) dedicated religious chaplains whose job it is not only to provide regular religious worship but also to spread their influence throughout the school day."
See also: Catholic Education Service wants religious education to dominate the school day
Michael Gove personally killing RE, say enthusiasts for RE
Posted: Thu, 5 Jan 2012 13:53
The chairman of the Religious Education Council for England and Wales, John Keast, has accused the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, of dismantling religious education in schools. In a letter published in The Times and The Daily Telegraph on Thursday of last week, he comments that after his decision to leave religious education out of both the English Baccalaureate and the school-curriculum review, Mr Gove's decisions have now put two-thirds of university-training courses for RE teachers at risk.
"Having underlined the significance of the religious dimension in underpinning personal and communal values, David Cameron is in the ironic position of having an Education Secretary who appears to be dismantling the very school subject committed to teaching about these issues," he wrote. The letter calls on Mr Gove "to reverse the downward spiral in RE".
Mr Keast, formerly the top government expert on religious education, drew attention to the Council's concerns about the future of RE in his response to the draft report of the national curriculum review group, published before Christmas.
The report itself warns of the "unintended consequences" for subjects outside the national curriculum. If its proposals go ahead unaltered, RE will have to compete for curriculum time with subjects such as citizenship and the "catch-all" Personal, Social, Health, and Economic Education, which includes sex and relationships education.
In his initial response on behalf of the RE Council Mr Keast suggests that RE is "very much an 'also-ran' in the work being done on the nature and purpose of the school curriculum. ... If it is not included in what follows there is immense danger of further marginalisation."
He warns that the disappearance of RE material from the National Curriculum website, the collapse of many local arrangements for RE, and the cuts in RE teacher-training places together give the impression of a deliberate campaign against RE by the Secretary of State.
The response claims "[Mr Gove] is in danger of going down in history as the Conservative Secretary of State who presided over the decline of RE in this country while his Prime Minister extolled the importance of faith in the life of our society and communities".
The RE Council wrote earlier this month to the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb, asking to be involved in the next stage of the curriculum review.
Keith Porteous Wood, Executive Director of the National Secular Society, said: "Mr Gove is to be congratulated in resisting pressure to put more school time and resources into RE. Religious Education already has a privileged and untouchable place in schools – the only subject that must be taught by law in every state school in the land – and more than enough time is spent on it already. With limited resources, we must concentrate them where they will be most effective.
"The current provision for local determination of the RE syllabus means provision is patchy in terms of breadth and balance, leaving many pupils short-changed. Rather than be open-house to religious evangelists, RE needs radical reform to ensure religion and belief are taught with absolute objectivity."
