The UK is becoming more religiously diverse than ever, yet provision for religious education is often inadequate. We’ve compiled a short case for why RE matters in a modern world. 06/10/2024
Where can young minds reflect critically on their own assumptions about the world, and better understand the different worldviews of those with whom they live and work? Where can they engage academically with the most pressing ethical issues facing society, while also finding resources to develop their personal spirituality? Where can they gain confidence and familiarity with the key texts, ideas, and rituals that have historically shaped (and continue to infuse) UK culture, while also understanding the influences at the deep roots of other cultures?
Religious education offers all these possibilities and more – and fostering such vital skills has arguably never been more important. Faith and belief are significant elements in many of today’s biggest headlines across the world, while higher levels of immigration to the UK have brought far greater religious diversity at home. At the same time, levels of religious affiliation are declining among the existing population. It is now much more likely that you will have a profoundly different worldview from the person sat next to you – whether on the bus, in the office, or in the classroom – than it was even ten years ago. It is also increasingly likely that an understanding of what it means to have a religious worldview at all will need to be taught somewhere outside the home.
And yet, religious education is a subject facing serious challenges. While some schools provide excellent RE, others neglect it in the school timetable: provision suffers from the lack of an agreed body of learning for the subject and, as of November 2023, 15% of English secondary schools did not teach any RE at all in Year 11. The most disadvantaged pupils often receive the worst deal. So too, the numbers of students opting to study religious studies or theology beyond school–level are dwindling – which in turn limits the availability of subject specialists to teach the emerging generation.
The confluence of all these trends risks a disastrous deficit of religious literacy in the UK. Conversely, securing consistent and high–quality RE for the next generation will bear fruit not only in the formation of individuals and communities, but in the building of a more humane, compassionate, and understanding society. This short publication, accompanied by a series of reflections on the importance of RE from a range of key public thinkers, makes the case for a bold and enthusiastic embrace of religious education as a priority area in our educational landscape.
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