Clarke attacks Government for excluding RE

FORMER Home Secretary Charles Clarke has attacked the Government for allegedly downgrading religious education (RE) in the National Curriculum, writes Liz Dodd.

Mr Clarke, a former Labour Education Secretary and visiting lecturer on religion and faith at Lancaster University, said that RE tackled extremism. He claimed that the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, did not want to include religious education in the National Curriculum, adding this was a “serious problem”. But a spokesman for the Department for Education hit back, pointing out that RE was a compulsory part of the curriculum. “Religious Education is vitally important to help children develop an understanding of different faiths and cultures,” said the spokesman. “It is also part of schools’ activity to meet their legal duty to promote young people’s spiritual, moral and cultural development.” Under Mr Gove, RE was excluded from the English Baccalaureate Certificate, a performance measure at GCSE level.