28th May 2011

It is a long time since Britain 'ruled the world' with the Empire. The world really has made progress since that time. But there is one way in which Britain still is a world leader. And that is in our provision of Religious Education in school.

Because of the rich multi cultural nature of our country, enriched by people from all corners of the world – one very positive consequence of those distant colonial days – we have moved away from teaching 'confessional Religion' (which was usually called Scripture or Religious Instruction and was based on a study of the Bible.) Our schools now teach real Religious Education - which means just that – a real education about the whole world of Religion. We study all the major religions, their history and teachings – and look at the way that the force of religion is active in the news today. Today RE is about learning to think and reflect more deeply rather than learning about one particular faith or belief system.

Just as in Geography we study all the countries of the world, in Religious Education we study the whole world of religion. We focus on the six major religions – (in historical order of origins) Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism. But we also touch on other World Views including the secular, atheist and agnostic perspectives.

There are no other countries in the world which teach Religious Education as well as we do. Our model of Religious Education is an inspiration to the whole world.

Religious Education is a challenging and rigorous subject which engages our young people in a strong way because it also challenges them to think about their own beliefs and issues in the news. In RE we learn about the great religions and we also learn from them. Over the past 15 years, the number of students choosing to take a GCSE exam in RE has increased fourfold. But this is now in danger.

Recent legislation, introducing the English Baccalaureate assesses schools according to the results not only of Maths, English and Science (as was previously the case) but also 'in a Humanities subject and a language.'

If this meant that all the Humanities subjects were included, there would not be a problem, but the Education Secretary is only interested in promoting History and Geography. So only their results will count for the English Baccalaureate. That means that schools all over the country are reducing the RE they are offering.

Students all over the country are being denied the option to study RE and this important subject is being sidelined. But there is a lot of concern across the nation about this state of affairs. Over 100 MP's have signed an Early Day Motion calling for RE to be included in the English Bacc and over 100,000 individuals have signed a petition calling for RE to remain at the heart of the Humanities where it belongs, with parity in timetable space, qualified specialist teachers and funding. This issue is now being re-examined and debated in Parliament and a decision is due to be made in June.

This is a letter which I am sending to all interested parties including our MP's and faith groups, calling them to sign the Early Day Motion or the RE ACT petition and ensure that RE is not marginalised. You are welcome to use some of the points I make here - and write to your own MP and anyone else who may wish to offer their support to this important matter.Thank you for giving your time to read and think about this important issue.

Sincerely

DurgaMata

29th May, 2011

here is my letter -

Dear

I am very concerned about the exclusion of Religious Education from the English Baccalaureate. I am writing to ask you to sign the Early Day Motion for RE to be included in the English Bacc – as without this inclusion it is being sidelined and made increasingly irrelevant in the school curriculum. In my letter I am setting out to highlight some of the reasons why I believe that it is so important to have good Religious Education taught in our schools – and why that means that RE must be included in the English Baccalaureate.

The impact of Current Legislation

The Humanities Faculty in schools has always included History, Geography and Religious Education. The current exclusion of RE as a Humanities subject, from the English Baccalaureate means that many schools are discouraging students from taking RE GCSE as an option when it comes to deciding which GCSE subject to take. Because it competes with History and Geography (which count in the English Bacc) schools right across the country are reducing GCSE RE exam provision. In many schools the option to take RE GCSE has been closed. (My own God Daughter was denied this choice just a few months ago.)

Schools are reducing the RE budget, cutting timetable space, reducing departmental staffing and even amalgamating RE with Citizenship and/or PSHE. (There are many letters about this on the TES forums in all these three subjects. In one school, having amalgamated PSHE and RE they call the resulting subject 'RSE' (arse)! And it is given only 50 mins a week!

This does not just mean that our students are not getting the benefit of good RE, but it also sends out a clear message – that Religion and Religious Education are subjects which just doesn’t matter. But good RE does matter.

Some of the reasons why good RE is important

The National Curriculum requires our schools to provide a balanced and broadly based curriculum which: 1. Promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society; and 2. Prepares such pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities, and experiences of adult life.

I am starting by responding to the first of these requirements: 1) It is unusual for RE to offer our students much in the way of physical development – although kinaesthetic activities and role-play/drama activities, visits and outings can contribute here, but RE does engage with all the other aspects of our young people’s development in a strong and direct way.

Spiritual Development Religious Education is vital if our young people are to have any understanding of the spiritual aspect of life - and of themselves as spiritual beings. No other subject actually explores the spiritual aspect of their development (although others, especially the arts subjects, do contribute to this, as creativity and spirituality are closely linked.) No other subject actually engages with spiritual issues or explores them. All the other subjects give our young people important skills and they all teach our young people important things – but no other subject is actually engaging with who they are as human beings and helping them to make sense of the amazing reality that we call life. RE is rigorous in its engagement with the spiritual aspect of life.

Moral DevelopmentMany great philosophers and theologians speak of life as an opportunity, a test, a journey or quest in which we all have to make choices and deal with the consequences of these choices, and through which we explore life and discover what is true. Good Religious Education, taught by qualified specialists (and not just marginalised in the timetable) empowers our young people. It challenges them to think about what they do and why. It gives them the skills and awareness to think about their actions – and the consequences of them. Morality does not just develop in a vacuum. All the religions embody ideals and codes of behaviour which, when discussed in class and taught as part of good RE, enrich our young people and strengthen society as a whole. Without this, our young people loose this moral direction and our society suffers. We see so much evidence of this decline in moral understanding and direction in our society – the consequence of

the general decline in religious observance. But good RE can make a difference. RE is rigorous in its engagement with the moral aspect of life.

Cultural DevelopmentAnother important element in Religious Education relates to the teaching of Christianity. This country has been shaped by Christianity for more than a thousand years. An understanding of Christianity gives our students an understanding of our shared British Christian heritage, its history, legal and political system, its culture, music, art, literature, architecture etc, whatever our own personal family history and beliefs may be. This increases the development of and understanding of our common British culture. It has an impact on the ethos of the school, the cohesiveness of our local community and the well being of our nation -and this is not found in any other aspect of the curriculum. But there is more to culture than this. Ours is indeed a multi cultural society, enriched by people from all over the world. And again, RE comes into its own as it encourages an exploration of the many different cultures and religions found within our neighbourhoods and school communities. We learn about the religious practises, beliefs and customs, the festivals, music, art and cuisine, from many different cultures, opening the eyes of our students to the richness and diversity of our society and encouraging them to respond to diversity in a positive way. Good RE is rigorous in its engagement with the cultural aspect of life.

Mental DevelopmentSocratese said that ‘The unexamined life is not worth living.’ In RE we do not tell our students what to think, but we teach them how to think more deeply. No other subject offers an opportunity to think about and discuss the greatest questions that human beings can ever ask, the ‘Eternal’ or ‘Ultimate’ Questions - and study the greatest answers ever given to these ‘essential but unanswerable’ questions, answers given by some of the greatest people who have ever walked the earth. A group of (normally quite disaffected) youngsters in one of my classes, continued to work on this topic when the bell had gone for the end of the lesson. They continued to work into their break-time. While exploring the question of ‘Why am I alive?’ one student had responded by asking, ‘Am I really alive? – Perhaps I am just a robot.’ We found the discussion flying in all kinds of directions. The students were discussing ideas that they had seen on films and on the television, As they eventually left the classroom one boy turned to me and said, ‘Miss, I have never worked so hard at anything in all my life.’ RE is rigorous in its engagement with the aspect of the curriculum which requires good mental development and the development of advanced thinking skills.

The next aspect of the National Curriculum which RE contributes to is the requirement to promote these qualities not just in our pupils but also in society.

SocietyNo other subject offers our students the opportunity to think not just about what they believe and why – but also encourages them to develop skills in understanding other people, often very different people, people with very different approaches to life, different ways of making sense of the world, different beliefs and practises. Religious Education challenges narrow-mindedness and prejudice, gaining insight into this and many other issues from the teachings of all the great world religions.

Religious Education can be perceived as a ‘dance’ in which you first learn to see the world clearly from where you stand – and then you also learn to step into the shoes of other people and see the world through their eyes. This development of understanding and empathy is essential for good personal relations in any workplace. It is also essential for harmony in our neighbourhoods and in society as a whole. Without good RE, prejudice and fear of ‘the other’ proliferate. With good RE our young people go out into the world with a much more open and respectful attitude. They are also responsive to suffering and more likely to help when anyone is in trouble, either directly if they see someone in need – or by raising money to help when there is a natural disaster or by joining campaigns to fight for greater fairness and justice in society or in the wider world. Good RE is rigorous in its support for the wellbeing of our whole society.

The second requirement of the National Curriculum states that it2. Prepares such pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities, and experiences of adult life.

OpportunitiesIn Religious Education we don’t only ‘learn about’ each religion but we also ‘learn from’ them. Our students learn to reflect on important aspects of life such as love, forgiveness, compassion, hope, courage, thankfulness, fairness, justice and peace. We explore these ‘dispositions’ with insights that come from all the great religions. This leads to greater self-understanding. That is one reason why RE is so popular in school. It actually engages with the life experience of our young people. With good RE our young people develop strategies such as reflection, meditation and a more detatched and philosophical attitude which can help them to deal with problems and counter stress. International surveys have shown that our young people are some of the most unhappy and stressed in the world. Good RE can give them some skills to counter this stress and make more sense of our society, skills that will stand them in good stead as they enter adult life.

ResponsibilitiesThis aspect of RE is linked to morality. All the religions teach that individuals are part of wider communities and have a part to play in making the wider community strong and its members happy. We explore topics such as Marriage and the Family, Human Rights, Ethical Issues, the Environment, Rich and Poor, Justice and Human Rights, War and Peace, all of which relate directly to the responsibility of an individual within the wider society. And through learning about different teachings, different perspectives offered by the great world religions, by discussing and debating the issues which arise, our young people can become more aware, concerned and responsible members of the community. Good RE can give our young people the skills and insights that help them to become more responsible citizens.

ExperiencesExperiences in life are many and varied. There is failure as well as success, illness as well as good health, poverty as well as wealth. Accidents and disasters happen, we encounter meanness and bullying, cruelty and horror - evil as well as all that is good. As Siddhatha Gautama discovered when he went out from his palace and saw life in its fullness, there is suffering, old age, sickness and death. RE is uniquely positioned to give our students insights into the realities of life and so prepare them for the many

and varied experiences of adulthood. Good RE prepares our young people in a deep and rigorous way to think about and prepare for all the experiences of life.

The Early Day MotionThese are only some of the many reasons why it is important for all our students to have the experience of good RE as part of their education. The current situation is grave. As I speak, schools all across the country, responding to the pressures of the new English Baccalaureate, are marginalising this essential subject.

Many people across the country are deeply concerned about this situation. An Early Day Motion on this subject has been tabled -

Stephen Lloyd, MP for Eastbourne and Willingdon, has tabled an Early Day Motion asking for the inclusion of Religious Studies in the EBac. The wording is as follows:

That this House notes the recent publication of league tables of school performance measuring the proportion of pupils obtaining the English Baccalaureate; further notes that the English Baccalaureate is awarded to pupils who gain GCSEs at Grade C or above in English, mathematics, science, a foreign language and a humanities subject; further notes with concern that this list of approved subjects does not include religious education; recognises that religious education is an academically rigorous subject with increasing popularity among pupils; further recognises that the rise of religious extremism around the world and in the UK means that a good understanding of all religions is vital to a well-rounded education; further notes that with the increasing emphasis on the English Baccalaureate as the primary qualification for 16-year-olds schools are more likely to focus on the core subjects which make it up; and therefore calls on the Government to recognise the importance and relevance of religious education by including it as a core subject in the English Baccalaureate.

The question of RE and the English Baccalaureate was also debated recently http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=8317&st=10:59:40(– see extracts enclosed as attachments).

• Have you signed the Early Day Motion calling for RE to be included in the English Baccalaureate?

• Can you assure me that you will fight for RE to be included as one of the Humanities options for the English Baccalaureate?

RE, when taught well – by a specialist RE teacher - and especially when this includes progression towards GCSE and A’level exams and beyond - is a very challenging and rigorous subject which prepares our students for adult life in a strong and effective way. Religion is about our personal quest for meaning and truth. It is also one of the most powerful forces in the world, impinging on many of the current issues in the news. It is very important for our students to understand what religion is and to have some insight into and appreciation of the different world religions at this time. It is beneficial for the students as individuals and for society as a whole.

Good RE is very popular in school because it encourages debate and discussion, it nurtures complex thinking skills, it increases self-understanding and offers an opportunity for students to express their own beliefs and ideas. It also enables them to develop empathy and insight, to approach ‘diversity’ with interest and with an open-minded attitude and to appreciate and learn from the many differing perspectives which shape our world. Without the capacity to understand people who have different

views, there is more prejudice, fear and hatred. Quite simply, more people suffer – and it is likely that more will die.

Religion in our world is a force which, when citizens are not educated in good RE, can contribute to suspicion, fear, prejudice, intolerance, division and conflict. But, when there is good RE it becomes a force for great inspiration and goodness. Good RE is important. It matters. And it is being seriously undermined by the recent legislation on the English Baccalaureate.

So please, if you have not already done so, do sign the Early Day Motion – and join the fight to have RE included in the English Baccalaureate.

Sincerely,

DurgaMata Chaudhuri

Specialist RE teacher, RE and Community Cohesion Consultant, Educationalist and director of Blue Lotus Enterprises (see www.bluelotus.co)

Go to

http://www.reactcampaign.co.uk/Groups/154997/RE_ACT.aspx

and sign the online petition -

URGENT PETITION

I am profoundly concerned about the exclusion of Religious Education from the Humanities options in the curriculum of the English Baccalaureate.

Because Religious Education has the strong potential to increase understanding and tolerance, building social cohesion in our increasingly diverse society, I am calling on you now to include Religious Education as a Humanities option in the curriculum of the English Baccalaureate.