The Religious Education Council of England and Wales (the REC) welcomes the personal and official recognition by the Minister for Schools of the importance of religious education (RE), and of its popularity and effectiveness when well taught. The REC regards the steps he recently announced as a very positive preliminary response to its call for a National Strategy for RE, submitted jointly by the RE professional associations and faith communities nine months ago. 

Major features of this strategy remain to be addressed.  For example, much more needs to be done to tackle the lack of quality in RE provision in many primary and secondary schools, as exposed by Ofsted and other reports. There are not enough teachers who have a confident understanding of the role of religion in human experience locally, nationally and globally about which every pupil in every school deserves to be educated.

The REC is committed to working with the DCSF in implementing the measures announced by the Minister for Schools, through its continuing RE partnership, which it believes offers the most effective way of improving the experience of RE for all pupils. It will also press government for further measures to promote religious literacy and moral sense in all its operations.

Link to  Speech by Jim Knight 17 January 2008 at the QCA / NASACRE Conference