Religious Education in Schools
In November the Scottish Government launched a consultation document with a view to amending the legislation on Religious Observance (RO) and Religious Education (RE) in schools. The consultation period was to end on January 26, 2024.
The proposal is, by law, to require schools to consider pupils’ views when developing religious observance and Religious and Moral Education (RME) programmes. Supporters argue that this move is intended to enhance student engagement and ensure that educational practices reflect the perspectives of those directly involved. By incorporating students’ opinions, the proposal aims to align with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), particularly regarding the right of children to express their views in matters affecting them. The idea is to encourage schools to develop RO activities that are more inclusive, and considerate of the diverse beliefs of the student body, fostering a more respectful and harmonious school environment.
The National Secular Society has described the proposals as “feeble and completely unenforceable”, expressing concerns that they may not effectively ensure compliance with UNCRC. On the other hand, some religious organisations, notably the Roman Catholic Church, have expressed apprehension that the Bill could undermine the religious identity of denominational schools (which are almost entirely Roman Catholic). They fear that increased pupil input might erode traditional religious practices integral to their educational ethos. The Herald reported on 16 December that Professor James Conroy, a vice-principal of Glasgow University, where he is Professor of Religious and Philosophical Education, said, “There is a cohort of anti-religious and anti-Catholic civil servants in the Scottish Government who have become obsessed with imposing a cultural agenda on our
schools which has little to do with closing the attainment gap or improving basic literacy and numeracy skills”. Professor Conroy may well be right because we live in a secular and increasingly atheistic society. However, the anti-religious obsession is not simply a cohort of civil servants, it is a societal shift, a tidal wave of opposition to the truth.
In addition, there is a fear that atheistic and secular influences may persuade children to request withdrawals. As already mentioned, The National Secular Society are taking an interest in the progress of the legislation.
There are also concerns as to how schools will effectively implement the requirement to consider pupils’ views. The lack of clear guidelines may lead to inconsistent practices across schools, potentially causing confusion among educators, students and parents. Parents already have the legal right to withdraw their children from RO and RE, so the need for additional pupil consultation is questioned by some. This appears to be a further erosion of the right of parents to make decisions on behalf of their children.
It is clear that the quality and nature of religious education has slipped badly in the last number of decades. Forty or fifty years ago children from non-Christian families who attended state schools were taught the fundamentals of Christianity. Who can say that now? It is to be feared that if increasing numbers of children, in their ignorance and indifference, opt out of RE and RO, that the education authorities will use that as a basis for encouraging legislation to remove religious education from the curriculum altogether. Mathematics, English and the sciences are regarded as necessary subjects, which of course they are, but what is most essential for our never-dying souls is regarded as optional, or even unnecessary. These proposals, dressed up as children’s rights, are another move in the wrong direction. FRD
Dinosaur Tracks in Oxfordshire
Very impressive dinosaur tracks have been uncovered at a quarry in Oxfordshire. The footprints are huge – some of them are more than three feet long and a foot and a half deep – and some of the tracks extend for 150 yards, and may continue even further under the clay. The tracks cross each other, as if the mighty animals were walking or running in different directions. That such huge creatures should have existed on the earth is a wonder, and so too is the preservation of something as transitory as footprints in the mud. Probably some cataclysmic event connected with the Flood was responsible.
The scientists, with their usual confidence, date the tracks to “about 166 million years ago”; but such dates conflict with Scripture, and seem to involve so many assumptions, and get revised so often, that one pays little attention to them. They are trotted out mainly to bolster the rejection of the Bible in
Britain. We are more interested to hear what the scientists can tell us about the biology of these “behemoths” (Job 40:15-24) from their footprints, and we would also like a more detailed explanation of how the footprints came to be preserved. Similar footprints were found 30 years ago in another Oxfordshire quarry, but they were not studied and recorded with modern equipment and they are now buried at a landfill site. God gives us these remarkable things that we may return praise to him: “Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps” (Ps 148:7). DWBS