Government challenged over treatment of non-religious views in RE lessons
from the National Secular Society:
The Government has been challenged in the House of Lords over its approach to the inclusion of non-religious worldviews in religious education.
Lord Taverne, the Liberal Democrat peer and an honorary associate of the National Secular Society, asked the Government to explain why it had “condemned” guidance on the teaching of non-religious worldviews in religious studies.
The guidance, written by Dr Satvinder Juss – a Professor of Law at King’s College London, was issued following the High Court’s ruling that the Secretary of State for Education Nicky Morgan had made an “error of law”, which could lead to the neglect of non-religious worldviews in secondary schools.
The guidance contradicts the Department for Education’s own guidance which states that the ruling “does not affect how schools are teaching religious education”.
The Government has argued that the case was won “on a very narrow, technical point” and said that it does not “accept the wider interpretation” offered in the Dr Juss’ guidance.
Lord Nash, the schools minister, said that it was “inaccurate” to say that there was a need to balance the teaching of religions “by compulsory and systematic teaching of a non-religious world view to the same extent.”
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
