Accord is supporting a campaign to make religious education objective and balanced for which we need your help. We think that RE should teach about a wide range of different beliefs (religious and non-religious), not tell children what they ought to believe. Although all schools are legally required to teach RE, at the moment there is no statutory guidance on what they must teach. While community and voluntary controlled schools at least follow a syllabus that is agreed locally, voluntary aided religious schools are free to teach the lessons in any way they see fit.
The government has recently conducted a review of religious education but we believe that it has failed to address the partiality and lack of balance of RE in many schools. Because the current inadequacies in the way that RE is taught are a result of primary legislation, we believe that the laws governing RE should be reviewed.
For this reason we are asking all of our supporters to take action in support of the campaign. To help you can:
1. Write to your MP asking them to support EDM 1758, which calls for an independent review of the laws that govern RE. The more MPs that support the Early Day Motion, the more prominence the issue will have in parliament. http://tinyurl.com/religiouseducationedm
2. Sign the Number 10 petition calling for an independent review of RE. http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/reformRE/
If you have any questions or want to know about other ways that you can take action, as a teacher member of a SACRE or simply as a member of the public, then please get in touch with Accord at alex@accordcoalition.org.uk.
Alex Kennedy is the Coalition Coordinator
Email this author | All posts by Alex Kennedy
