A poll has found that 1 in 4 secondary schools in England are failing to abide by the law which states that RE must be taught to all children up to 18 or whenever they leave school. The Guardian reports that some teachers have blamed the exclusion of RE from the EBacc for the apparent ‘phasing out’ of RE from the classroom. The BHA responded by calling again for compulsory, comprehensive, consistent and high quality RE to be part of a national curriculum which would treat RE like all other Humanities subjects. However, the BHA has also described the current law making RE compulsory up to the age of 18 as ‘absurd’.
The BHA is concerned that if teachers and schools consider RE to be an ‘extra’ lesson, rather than a subject which, properly taught and examined, can be vital in helping young people to develop philosophical and critical skills and also to refine their own developing worldviews, then the provision of RE will become even more patchy and unbalanced. Currently the law requires all schools to teach RE, but what they teach and for how long is locally determined by various Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education (SACRE). The BHA has restated its call for RE to be a national curriculum subject to be taught in all schools, including ‘faith’ schools, with a clearly defined and unbiased syllabus which includes and encourages debate of all religious and non-religious beliefs and values.
BHA Head of Public Affairs Naomi Phillips commented, ‘The current law that RE be taught to pupils until the age of 18 or whenever they leave school is absurd – it should have the status of any other Humanities subject and no more. But it is concerning that schools are not teaching it at all. Good learning about religious and non-religious beliefs is essential. However, if schools and teachers are not enthused by the local syllabuses they are presented with then they may not wish to teach it, and the real danger is that in the schools where it is taught, the subject will be confessional rather than balanced.
‘The issue is not whether RE is included in the EBacc or not, it is that we urgently need a national curriculum for RE to take it out of the hands of local and often factional interests and which would help all schools to teach it to a high standard.’
Notes
For further comment or information contact Naomi Phillips
The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of ethically concerned, non-religious people in the UK. It is the largest organisation in the UK campaigning for an end to religious privilege and to discrimination based on religion or belief, and for a secular state.