Religious education in primary and secondary education

Religious education is the term given to education concerned with religion. It may refer to education provided by a church or religious organization, for instruction in doctrine and faith, or for education in various aspects of religion, but without explicitly religious or moral aims, e.g. in a school or college. The term is often known as religious studies.

England

Religious Education (RE) is a compulsory subject in the state education system in England. Schools are required to teach a programme of religious studies according to local and national guidelines.

Religious Education in England is mandated by the Education Act 1944 as amended by the Education Reform Act 1988 and the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. The provision of Religious Education is compulsory in all state-funded schools, but it is not compulsory for any of the children to take the subject. The subject consists of the study of different religions, religious leaders, and other religious and moral themes. However, the curriculum is required to reflect the predominant place of Christianity in religious life and hence Christianity forms the majority of the content of the subject. All parents have the right to withdraw a child from religious education, which schools must approve.^[1]

Additionally, all schools are required by law to provide a daily act of collective worship, of which at least 51% must be Christian in basis over the course of the academic year.^[2] Sarah Smalley, the chair of the Association of Religious Education inspectors, advisors and consultants, stated that some "schools did have problems fulfilling the requirement for worship" due to what they thought was "a lack of space to gather the entire school for worship" although Smalley noted that "there is actually no requirement for such a gathering, as smaller groups are allowed."^[3] The National Union of Teachers suggested in 2008 that parents should have a right to have specific schooling in their own faith and that imams, rabbis and priests should be invited to offer religious instruction to pupils in all state schools.^[4]

England has a Local Agreed Syllabus which mandate subject teaching for each Key Stage and possibly for each school year. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has also produced the non-statutory National Framework for Religious Education, which provides guidelines for the provision of RE at all key stages, and models the eight-levels as applied in National Curriculum subjects.^[5]

France

In France, RE is replaced by a non-religious moral teaching (called civic, legal and social education : éducation civique, juridique et sociale, ECJS). Children can additionally receive, on a voluntary basis, a religious education, either at school in private religious school, or outside of school, in their religious community, if they are in a public (State) school, though in some rare regions, the old Concordat being still an obligation because of the German occupation and the strong stand of population in favour of this (in the Alsace-Moselle mainly), religious education is made compulsory, and a dispense is necessary if the child refuses to be following religious education, which is set catholic.

Ireland

In Ireland religion is taught in a subject called Religious Education which is compulsory in many schools for the Junior Certificate, but available as an option for the Leaving Certificate. The course educates students about communities of faith, the foundations of the major world religions, the sacred texts, religious practices and festivals for Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians. Students also learn about religious change in Ireland, meaning in life, religious and non-religious responses to the search for meaning, atheism, agnosticism and other forms of belief. Students are also educated about morality in a number of different faiths and their moral codes.

Israel

Israeli school system includes State Schools; Religious State Schools; Recognized Schools and Exempt Schools, whose students are regarded as fulfilling the obligatory education.^[6]

Japan

The prevailing view is that the religious education would contravene the constitutional separation of state and religion. In place of RE, there is a short but nonetheless compulsory subject called "Ethics" (道徳（どうとく）, doutoku, lit. "morality") in primary school, where the purpose is to teach moral values rather than to teach ethics as an academic subject. However, despite the stated secular stance, references to the majority religions of Shinto and Buddhism are sometimes made in class texts.

Lebanon

Being a secular country, with no state religion, Lebanon is expected to have a neutral position regarding religious education in its schools, which is not the case in the country, as well as many European and American countries. Lebanon doesn't have a law concerning RE in its educational establishments. Schools have the right to either give RE classes, or do the opposite. Religious classes are not obligatory, nor banned, and they are not replaced by "ethics" classes. Private Schools (Christian and Muslim) give mandatory religious classes, reflecting their religious identification. Students from other religions don't take any classes during the religious ones, but they always can sign up for the RE class. Catholic schools give only Catholic classes, mandatory for Christian students, but can be signed up for by Muslim students, if not, Muslims do not take any classes in parallel to Christian ones. Public schools kind of have a more liberal religious program. A Lebanese public school may give, or not give RE classes, which regard the predominant religion of the population in the area the school is located in. Students have to take these classes, whether they are Christian or Muslim. A public school located in a mixed area would prefer not to give RE classes, unless voted oppositely by locals, RE classes may be both Christian and Muslim at the same time in this case, and students divide when this happens.

Malaysia

The Malaysian education system makes Moral Studies compulsory for non-Muslim students at secondary and primary schools. Muslim students instead partake in Islamic Studies lessons. Both subjects figure among the seven compulsory subjects undertaken by students for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia. There has been considerable debate about the usefulness of the "Moral" subject, primarily due to the strict exam-oriented marking-schemes.^[7]

Norway

As of 2007 Article 2 of the Constitution of Norway mandates Evangelical-Lutheran parents to provide a religious upbringing for their children.^[8]

Scotland

In Scottish state schools, Religious Education is called Religious and Moral Education from ages 5 to 14, and Religious, Moral and Philosophical Studies from 14 to 18.

The majority of state schools in are non-denominational, but as a result of the Education Act 1918, separate denominational state schools were also established. The vast majority of denominational state schools are Roman Catholic but there are also a number of Scottish Episcopal schools. The school buildings are built and maintained by the Roman Catholic Church were handed over to the state under the Education Act. Since then,the Catholic schools are fully funded by the Scottish Government and administered by the Education and Lifelong Learning Directorate. As part of the deal, there are specific legal provisions to ensure the promotion of a Catholic ethos in such schools: applicants for positions in the areas of Religious Education, Guidance or Senior Management must be approved by the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, which also appoints a chaplain to each of its schools. There is also one Jewish state primary school.

South Africa

The South African National Policy on Religion and Education adopted in September 2003 provides for Religion Education, i.e. education about diverse religions, which does not promote any particular religion in the public school curriculum. The policy does not apply to private schools.^[9][10]

References

External links

• Religious and moral education, Curriculum for excellence, Scotland
• Education about Religions and Beliefs, A Global Resource