Q. What are the essentials of a good, healthy society?

 

A. A peaceful tolerant democracy which encompasses freedom with responsibility, respect and tolerance of all people, and provides compulsory comprehensive and unrestricted education for all children.

 

Q. Should religion be taught in state schools?

 

A. Yes, provided that it is taught factually (not the indoctrination that religious leaders want taught) and that such education covers all the major religions and philosophies equally, their beliefs, history and historic effects on society.

 

Q. Should faith schools be allowed, either taxpayer supported or privately funded?

 

A. Taxpayer supported – No.

 

A. Privately funded – Yes. In line with the freedoms of a good healthy society, provided that the curriculum is identical to that of the state schools* except in the subject of religion. However, also in line with the concurrent responsibilities of that society each faith school should have its religious curriculum approved by the state in conjunction with the particular faiths leaders. This to ensure standardization of the particular religions teaching and to ensure that fringe beliefs and extremism are not taught nor indoctrinated in the children, nor that hatred of other religions is indulged.  Also, all faith schools should be under the same scrutiny as state schools for standards and quality of education.

 

*Meaning that the faith schools whilst free to teach only their preferred religion, rather than all religions, cannot for example refuse to teach the theory of evolution in their science classes, or differentiate between what is taught to girls and boys.

 

Charles

The requirement for schools to have an act of collective worship should be abolished, says a report “A New Settlement for Religion and Belief” co-authored by former UK Education Secretary Charles Clarke and published June 2015.

 

The study argues that the requirement has failed to keep up with changes in attitudes to religion since it was introduced in the 1940s. Mr. Clarke says it is more honest to admit that it cannot be enforced. But he calls for the compulsory teaching of RELIGIOUS LITERACY.

A report from Mr Clarke and Linda Woodhead, professor of sociology of religion at Lancaster University, says there needs to be a "new settlement" in the relationship between religion and schools.

'Nod and wink'

It argues that the obligation for a compulsory act of worship is often not really fulfilled, but there is a "nod and wink culture" about not admitting this.

 

The report, published as part of the Westminster Faith Debates about religion and values, says that schools should be allowed to make their own decisions about how to hold such a morning assembly and what should be included. Mr. Clarke says that even though many heads have not wanted to carry out such an act of worship there has been a political reluctance to grasp the nettle. "The reason there has been no change in 70 years is that politicians have been very wary of dipping their toes in this debate," he said.

 

But the report argues that there should be a stronger and more relevant form of religious education in schools, which should be compulsory for all schools and include non-religious beliefs, such as humanism. These lessons in religious literacy would teach pupils about different faiths and involve visits to different places of worship.

 

The concerns about radicalisation and fundamentalism meant that this was a very necessary lesson, said Mr Clarke. It was important to teach about mainstream, moderate interpretations of religion, rather than "letting extremists dominate the argument".

 

"It is very important to grow up knowing what faith is and what faith is not," he said. "Religious questions keep coming up in the news, there needs to be an understanding of it."

 

The report also looks at the place of faith schools and concludes that the right for parents to send their children to such schools should be protected. Mr. Clarke described this as a "fundamental right" and unlikely to be something that any government would challenge.

The authors argue that faith schools should continue be able to take religion into account in the admissions process.

 

Andrew Copson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, welcomed the call for a review of the place of "religions and non-religious worldviews" in school. Since the current arrangements were made in the 1940s, he said, society had "changed beyond recognition and yet the education system is fossilised".

 

John Hall, the Anglican dean of Westminster, said: "The place of religion in education is contested but there is no doubt that young people need a far better understanding than they currently have of the powerful motive force that is religious - and non-religious - faith, for good and ill. And they need to develop spirituality and morality."

 

A Department for Education spokeswoman said that religious education is "vitally important to help children develop the British values of tolerance, respect and understanding for others". "It prepares young people for life in modern Britain and that is why it remains compulsory at all key stages. All locally agreed RE syllabuses must be broad, balanced and reflect the teaching and practices of principal religions."

 

She said that faith schools were "an important part of our diverse education system, allowing parents to choose to have their child educated in line with the tenets of a faith".

 

Charles

 

                                               'Teach religion and worldviews instead of RE'

 

By Judith Burns

Education reporter BBC 9/9/18

 

Religious education in England's schools should be renamed Religion and Worldviews to reflect the diversity of modern Britain, say experts.

The subject should include non-religious worldviews as well as major faiths, says the Commission on Religious Education final report.

It follows research suggesting at least a quarter of schools break the law on teaching RE. Without an overhaul, the subject could wither, the authors warn.

The independent Commission was set up two years ago by the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, amid growing concerns about the quality of RE lessons.

These include:

Fears that poor RE could leave pupils ignorant or bigoted

Evidence that growing numbers of schools do not teach RE

Ofsted's finding that RE is less than good in about half of schools

 

The commission's report confirms that the quality of RE in schools is "highly variable". There is some excellent practice in some schools. it says, but in others the amount of time allocated to the subject is being squeezed, and the subject is suffering from an across-the-board decline in specialist teachers.

 

"RE needs rejuvenating if it is to continue to make its important contribution, indeed if it is not to wither on the vine," says Commission Chairman, The Very Rev Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster and a former chief education officer for the Church of England, in his foreword.

The new subject would allow pupils to study the different traditions of major religions such as Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism but alongside these they would also look at non-religious worldviews like humanism, secularism, atheism and agnosticism.

"Life in Britain, indeed life in our world, is very different from life in the 1970s when RE began to include other world religious and beliefs besides Christianity," says Dr Hall.

He believes it has never been more important for people to understand the main traditions of faith and belief and the wide variety of worldviews, and to "achieve fluency in relating to people with different traditions and outlooks from their own".

At present, he warns, "the quality of RE in too many schools is inadequate in enabling pupils to engage deeply with the worldviews they will encounter".

 

To counter this the commission wants the government to change the law on RE to ensure that all pupils, no matter what type of school they attend - including faith schools and academies - have full access to the proposed Religion and Worldviews curriculum. Schools would have to publish a detailed statement on how they achieve this and Ofsted would have the power to ensure that minimum standards are met.

 

There is a shortage of specialist RE teachers. The Church of England's chief education officer, Nigel Genders, agreed that the report's call for a new vision for RE was vital and timely "if we are to equip children for life in the modern world where religion and belief play such important roles".

 

However, a spokesman for the Catholic Education Service, while applauding the attempt at improving RE in all schools, said the report failed to produce a consensus on how to achieve this. "This report is not so much an attempt to improve RE as to fundamentally change its character," said the spokesman, who warned the changes risked the subject losing "all academic value and integrity".

 

And the Vice President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Edwin Shuker, said the report was "fundamentally undermined by the dilution of religious education through the inclusion of all worldviews in an already tight teaching timetable". "This might be seen as an attempt by those hostile to faith to push their agenda of undermining rigour in religious education at a time when faith literacy could not be more important."

 

Non-religious views

 

But Andrew Copson, chief executive of Humanists UK, called the recommendations "a once in a generation opportunity to save the teaching of religious and non-religious worldviews". "If the nettle is not grasped, decline will continue and the subject will sink into irrelevance at a time when the need for knowledge and understanding... is more acute than ever. "

 

Stephen Evans, chief executive of the National Secular Society called the proposals "significant progress, although the deference to religious interests has limited the commission's ambitions, making its report an inevitable fudge."

 

Ben Wood, chairman of the National Association of Teachers of RE, said the plan to include non-religious worldviews reflected "current practice in many schools where RE is taught well" and looked forward to working with policymakers to take the subject forward.

 

The Department for Education said it will look into the report's recommendations.

 

Sad, but not unexpected, to see the views of the Catholic and Jewish representatives. Charles.

 

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