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Parents should not be allowed to opt children out of RE classes, former Education Secretary says

Mr Clarke argues that the laws governing religion in schools are 75 years out of date  - PA
Mr Clarke argues that the laws governing religion in schools are 75 years out of date - PA

Parents should not be allowed to opt their children out of Religious Education (RE) classes, the former Education Secretary has said.

In a new policy pamphlet, Mr Clarke, alongside Lancaster University professor Linda Woodhead, calls for RE to be treated as a “normal academic subject” like History and English.

Mr Clarke, who also served as Home Secretary under Tony Blair, argues that the laws governing religion in schools are 75 years out of date.

“The current legal relationship between religion, belief and schools is outdated in such a way that the law itself has become a barrier to schools’ ability to help their children understand their own situation and the world in which they are growing up,” he said.

“What’s urgently needed…is an urgent reform of the law that underpins the way religion is handled in schools.”  Mr Clarke’s report, published by Westminster Faith Debates, said that the parental opt-out for RE lessons is “anachronistic” and harks back to a time when the classes were treated as confessional “Religious Instruction”.  

“The right of withdrawal should be removed altogether once a national syllabus is established which secures the proper place of RE as a professional subject on the same basis as all others,” the report said.  

The report also argues that RE should be renamed as “Religion, Belief and Values” to recognise the fact that the majority of people in England now say they have no religion.  

Former Education Secretary Charles Clarke
Former Education Secretary Charles Clarke

The National Secular society said the ideas represent “baby steps in the right direction” but added that the report “generally appears to be an admission that necessary reforms are not possible without the approval of religious bodies”.

The Catholic Church said that while there is a need to improve RE in schools, the report's suggestions are "unacceptable". 

The Right Reverend Marcus Stock, Bishop of Leeds and lead bishop for Religious Education, said: “Catholic schools are the most successful providers of Religious Education in the country. This is because we take it seriously as a rigorous, theological academic subject.

"However, rather than look at the sector that does it the best they have opted for a reductionist approach which is exclusively sociological and has no consensus amongst RE professionals.”