One in four state secondary schools are failing to meet their legal obligation to teach religious education a new survey has shown. The figures also highlight sharp differences in the provision of RE between faith schools and academies and other schools. By law, RE must be taught by all state-funded schools in England.
The National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE) and the Religious Education Council found that 26 per cent of secondaries were not offering RE lessons, using unpublished data obtained under Freedom of Information law.
Among academies, more than a third (34%) were not offering RE to 11 to 13 year olds and almost half (44%) were not offering the subject to 14 to 16 year olds. However 96% of faith schools said they offered the subject to all 14 to 16 year olds.
Students are also more likely to have a teacher trained with the appropriate level of subject knowledge in schools with a religious character than in schools where RE is determined with the locally agreed syllabus, or academies and free schools.
The chief executive of the REC, Rudolf Eliot Lockhart, described the figures as “alarming”. He added: “More than ever, as our society becomes multicultural and religious extremism dominates the news agenda, we need young people to be religiously literate” so that school leavers can “understand the differences, identify distortions” meaning “communities are cohesive and well-integrated for future generations”.
A Department of Education spokesman said that “where an Ofsted investigation reveals that statutory requirements are not being met and this is a contributory factor in explaining why pupils are not achieving as well as they should at the school, it will be considered for inclusion in the inspection report as a key point for improvement.”
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