- Children should learn about atheism in religious education
lessons as part of moves to make the subject more relevant to the modern
world, according to a report from a think-tank with close ties to New Labour.
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- Indeed, the subject's name should be changed from religious
education to religious, philosophical and moral education, says the study
published this week by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).
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- Guidelines for schools on how to teach the beliefs of
atheists, agnostics and humanists are being drawn up by the Qualifications
and Curriculum Authority, which is also working on the first national framework
for RE with the Department for Education and Skills.
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- The IPPR report warns that the current "pro-religious"
and "anti-science" bias of many RE lessons urgently needs to
be addressed, and that since the vast majority of people do not attend
a weekly religious service it makes little sense to teach children only
about religious beliefs.
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- In 1980, only 19 per cent of the adult population belonged
to a church, mosque, synagogue or temple. By 1990 the figure had fallen
to 17.5 per cent and in 1999 only 7 per cent of British people were attending
a weekly religious service.
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- Schools must provide RE for all pupils and it is the
only compulsory subject not presently covered by the national curriculum.
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- Ben Rogers of the IPPR, argued that the subject should
not be scrapped, just brought up to date. "Now that only 7 per cent
of Britons attend a weekly religious service, many are arguing for the
abolition of RE as a compulsory subject. We disagree," he said. "RE
has an important place in the curriculum but only if it is brought up to
date.
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- "Dropping religion from the syllabus, or banning
the expression of religious beliefs from schools, as in France, won't make
religious strife go away. If anything it will exacerbate it. But,"
he explained, "religious education too often has a pro-religious and
in some cases anti-science bias. Young people are becoming more reflective
and inquiring; philosophy is one of the fastest growing school subjects.
RE should equip them to explore and assess religious and non-religious
belief systems, encouraging habits of critical reflection and reasoned
argument."
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- http://education.independent.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=491532
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