Ban parents from pulling children out of religious education classes, Church of England says

Parents should be banned from pulling their children out of religious education classes because they are preventing students from learning about Islam, the Church of England has warned.

Derek Holloway, the Church’s lead on religious education (RE) policy, said that those with “fundamentalist” religious beliefs are “exploiting” laws which give them the right to withdraw children from the lessons, in order to stop them from learning about the Muslim faith.

He said that parents are using a “dubious interpretation of human right legislation” to pull students out of the classes, warning that such actions create a “dangerous” precedent.

Mr Holloway, who taught at comprehensive schools in Essex and Wiltshire before taking up his current post in the C of E’s education office, said that the right to withdraw children from RE lessons risks being hijacked by those who want to “incite religious hatred”.

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