Religious Education is outdated, unpopular and opens the door to proselytising.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 But we don't think our schools need a dedicated subject to do this – especially a subject as out-of-date and as irrelevant as Religious Education (RE).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
RE promotes religiosity but not morality, German study finds
Posted: Tue, 18 Jan 2022 14:06
Religious education promotes religiosity but not broadly shared moral and political values, research suggests.
Researchers at the University of Munich's Institute for Economic Research have found German states' decisions to replace compulsory religious education (RE) in the 1970s with optional ethics classes significantly reduced pupils' religiosity in adulthood.
The researchers' findings were published in a recent study, Can schools change religious attitudes? which found students with the option to attend non-denominational ethics classes rather than RE were less likely to describe themselves as 'religious' (49% verses 52%) or 'very religious' (9% verses 11%) as adults.
The paper found similar reductions across three measures of religious activity: prayer, church attendance, and religious affiliation through church taxation.
The staggered timing and different political contexts in which RE reforms were introduced allowed researchers to separate this factor from others driving the broader decline in religiosity in Germany.
The post-war German constitution maintained the requirement for locally determined RE, with the curriculum heavily influenced by the major churches. This is similar to RE provision in the UK's education systems.
But serious concerns were raised over the suitability of such curricula in light of rapid social liberalisation and diversification. German states responded by introducing an optional non-denominational alternative to RE, usually called ethics. In contrast, UK governments have supported the adoption of a more multifaith approach to RE.
The paper's analysis also shows how the option of non-denominational ethics education, similar to that being introduced in Wales, had a moderating effect on denominational RE. Researchers found the non-denominational ethics option led to RE classes becoming more pluralistic, with more coverage of other religions and less emphasis on faith formation, in favour of individual belief exploration.
The paper also found the non-denominational ethics option led to a decrease in conservative gender and family attitudes, particularly around beliefs that men are more suited for certain jobs, and a decrease in prejudice towards unmarried couples.
It also found no significant impact on pupils' "ethical-value outcomes including reciprocity, trust, risk preference, volunteering, and life satisfaction" or "political-value outcomes such as political interest, satisfaction with democracy, or left-right voting patterns".
The National Secular Society's head of education Alastair Lichten said: "The historical parallels and differences in RE reform in Germany and the UK provide important insights.
"These findings show that a move towards non-denominational ethics has positive educational outcomes and more effectively promotes tolerance.
"They also shatter the myth that RE is necessary for children's moral education. But they do show how RE can be used by religious groups to bolster their numbers.
"Since moving away from direct confessionalism in most schools, RE has often felt like a subject without an agreed purpose. It generally serves to promote a broadly positive view of religion, rather than rigorous analysis of beliefs, and is often lumbered with a diverse and inconsistent range of expectations. A new subject freed from such historical baggage could revitalise this area of learning."
See also: Framing religion as intrinsically positive harms education, study warns
Laws requiring exclusively Christian RE to face court challenge in NI
Posted: Thu, 24 Jun 2021 10:37
The High Court in Northern Ireland has granted permission for a legal challenge against laws requiring confessional RE focused on Christianity and collective worship in all schools.
A father has brought the case against his daughter's primary school and the Department of Education, and will argue that the laws are discriminatory and violate the Human Rights Act.
Religious education in schools is controlled by the four major churches in NI. The syllabus for the subject says pupils should "develop an awareness, knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the key Christian teachings" and "develop an ability to interpret and relate the Bible to life".
RE is not inspected by the Department of Education and is often delivered partly by external evangelical organisations.
The law also requires that pupils in NI's schools take part in a daily act of collective worship.
Parents have the legal right to withdraw children from worship and RE, but stigmatisation, resistance from schools and a lack of a meaningful alternative mean this is not an option for many pupils.
Comments
Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law, who is representing the claimants, said: "Uniquely in this jurisdiction, religion, and specifically the Christian faith, and education are intertwined as a matter of law.
"It is our case that the state is not entitled to promote or privilege the Christian faith in this way. To do so only seeks to indoctrinate, and entrenches segregation."
National Secular Society head of education Alastair Lichten said: "A subject focused on narrow faith formation, and that excludes critical or different perspectives, should be regarded as inconsistent with Northern Ireland's human rights obligations.
"This case should spur the Department of Education to reform the subject so that all pupils have access to critical and pluralistic education about religions and beliefs.
"If schools are to raise the potential of pupils from all backgrounds, then all aspects of the school day need to be inclusive and suitable for everyone. Mandated worship and church-controlled curricula must go."
Criticism of relevant policies
The UN's children's rights committee has previously criticised Northern Ireland for its collective worship policy and religious segregation in schools, after the NSS submitted evidence on the subject.
And in 2019 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that states must ensure RE curricula are "conveyed in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner".
The court also ruled that states are "forbidden" from attempting to indoctrinate children in a way "that might be considered as not respecting parents' religious and philosophical convictions".
This came as the court found that Greece had breached the European Convention on Human Rights when it required parents to submit a declaration form to opt children out of RE.
Further notes
- The NSS recently received assurances from NI's education minister Peter Weir that concerns over confessional religious education and compulsory worship will fit within the scope of a major independent review of education.
- The case will proceed to a full hearing in November 2021.
Image: Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com.
