Accord has highlighted a range of problems that are being caused to the supply of teachers by the current arrangements for Religious Education (RE), and faith schools religiously discriminating in the employment of their staff. Responding to an inquiry by the Education Select Committee about a national shortage of teachers, Accord has urged for a statutory national subject framework for RE to be introduced, and for the laws that allow faith schools to religiously discriminate in teacher employment to be removed.
Chair of the Accord Coalition, said ‘RE is the most fragmented subject in schools, which inhibits the quality of RE teacher training and resources produced, increases the barriers for teachers changing schools and, ultimately, dissuades people from specialising in teaching the subject. Faith schools meanwhile are damaging the quality of the education they provide by unjustly applying religious tests in the recruitment and employment of staff, meaning they recruit teachers from a narrower talent pool and find it much harder to fill vacancies.
‘Accord has therefore urged the Education Select Committee to recognise how a lack of reform to both RE’s statutory basis and the disproportionate and unfair laws that allow religious discrimination in teacher employment are holding back the school system and making teacher shortages worse, and so require being changed. Religion and belief in the school system should be a source of inspiration and inquiry, not being antiquated and backwardness.’
In its submission Accord has highlighted repeated calls from Ofsted to review the statutory basis for the teaching of RE. RE is currently in the anomalous position of having to be taught in all state funded schools but, in contrast to all other compulsory subjects, there is no national framework that schools have to follow or are likely to take a lead from.
Accord drew attention to the evidence showing that teacher shortages, especially for senior posts, are worse at religiously selective schools, and the success of schools that employ staff, including head teachers, from outside of the faith. A long term shortfall of trained RE teachers was highlighted in a 2013 report by the All Party Parliamentary Group for RE, which found that a quarter of pupils at primary schools were taught RE by teaching assistants, and 50% of teachers of RE in secondary schools had no qualification or ‘appropriate expertise’ in the subject.
This article could only have been written by someone who has never participated in teacher recruitment for a Faith School. I can’t speak for others, but frankly, it’s complete nonsense to write about Catholic schools “unjustly applying religious tests in the recruitment and employment of staff.”
Hi John,
Accord cited research and comments by other groups in its submission, and has only not provided a link to it above so as to adhere to Parliamentary guidelines. The Select Committee should make Accord’s submission available online in due course.
Best wishes.
Paul.
Coordinator of the Accord Coalition for Inclusive Education