Parents are pulling their children out of school religious education lessons because they do not want them taught about Islam, the Church of England said yesterday.
Some Church officials said they hope to shield their children from learning about any faith but Christianity, and others have a particular intention to keep children from any knowledge of Islam.
They pointed towards far-right political groups and some minority faith denominations as activists who are attempting to ‘exploit’ the legal right of parents to remove their children from school RE.
In order to encourage students to understand how to coexist with people from all backgrounds, CofE officials asked for the removal of the right of withdrawal and the mandatory inclusion of RE in school schedules.
The accusation against parents who remove children from RE classes comes against a backdrop of heightening arguments about the future of religious education teaching.
The subject is not part of the compulsory National Curriculum and, alongside sex education, is the only subject from which parents can withdraw pupils.
CofE school inspection chief Derek Holloway said: ‘Through RE teacher social media forums and feedback from our RE advisers, I am aware that some parents have sought to exploit the right to withdraw children from RE lessons.
‘This is seemingly because they do not want their children exposed to other faiths and world views, in particular Islam. Anecdotally, there have also been some cases in different parts of the country of parents with fundamentalist religious beliefs also taking a similar course.
‘This is not confined to any one particular religion or area of the country.’
Mr Holloway added: ‘To enable all to live well together, there is a need for all pupils from all backgrounds to receive a broad and balanced curriculum that includes high-quality RE.
‘Sadly, and dangerously, the right of withdrawal from RE is now being exploited by a range of interest groups, often using a dubious interpretation of human rights legislation. The right of withdrawal from RE now gives comfort to those who are breaking the law and seeking to incite religious hatred.’
School RE lessons are supposed to teach children not just about Christianity, but also to provide them with a background on the beliefs and history of all the major faiths.
Parents have a legal right to withdraw their children from RE under a 1998 education law.
The CofE, which has 4,700 schools including 200 secondary schools, strives to encourage ‘deep respect for the integrity of other traditions’ in RE.
Mr Holloway said the subject ‘does have a contribution to make to combating extremism and to community cohesion, but these are not its core purpose nor its main aims.’
He said the teaching of RE should not be confused with the daily act of worship, which schools are required to offer to pupils. In most schools, this is a Christian assembly, and parents are entitled to withdraw their children from the act of worship.
There are no figures on how many parents remove their children from RE classes, although CofE officials said the figure is thought to be small. The subject is popular at GCSE, with more than 250,000 children taking the exam at 16.
Critics of religious education said parents should continue to be able to remove their children from classes.
Keith Porteous Wood of the National Secular Society said: ‘The fundamental problem is that RE is a confused subject area, still sometimes taught in a biased or partisan way.
‘If the subject was reformed to be genuinely educational and non-partisan study of religious and non-religious worldviews, the right to withdraw may no longer be necessary. But until such time, the right of withdrawal is required to protect parental rights and freedoms.’
There is undoubtedly a compelling case against religious instruction in schools, but if it does occur, it should be honest and refrain from indoctrinating kids into thinking that all religions encourage harmony and love.
Although I don’t practise religion myself, I admire others who do. However, I only have a little time on this planet; therefore, I would prefer to live my life as I see fit. All that counts is that I am a nice and decent person, and that holds for everyone, regardless of background.
Religious education is not part of a child’s curriculum at school. Faith is a private belief, and not a mythical God like creature that will send you to burn in hell if you misbehave, but if you want to frighten a young child half to death, that would be the way to go!
Everyone has the right to practise their religion, but as time has gone on, I’ve realised that it’s most likely all fiction because of our incapacity to deal with death. As a result, we must believe in something. However, anybody who sermonises outlandish claims and uses religion as a justification for carnage, cruelty, or slavery does not have a sound mental footing, but then history is a gory place, and it seems that all the problems in the world stem from religion. Perhaps it’s time to ditch it altogether and maybe introduce core values closer to home.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 