Pupils receive a tokenistic religious education, warn cross-party MPs and peers

Sep 18, 2023 by Jill

by Louisa Clarence-Smith, Telegraph:

Education Secretary urged to deal with teaching crisis in the subject’

Pupils are receiving “tokenistic religious education or none at all” at some schools, more than 30 MPs and peers have warned the Education Secretary.

A group of parliamentarians has written to Gillian Keegan to raise the alarm about the quality of RE in schools, blaming a dearth of well-trained teachers and lack of funding for the subject.

“Religious Education [RE] helps children take their place in society; supports them in being effective and engaged in the workplace, their community and in discussing and debating issues related to religion and belief,” they said in the letter.

While some children receive a comprehensive RE education, other children “receive either tokenistic RE or none at all, leaving school without the knowledge and understanding of their own worldviews, or others necessary for life in modern Britain”, they argued.

Those children are “consequentially ill-prepared to play their part in our complex religious and non-religious society, with all the opportunities created by its diversity”, they said.

Read here (£)