Other religions are being treated more seriously than Christianity in Religious Education classes according to a new Ofsted report. According to the report, there “were a number of specific weaknesses in the teaching about Christianity. Many primary and secondary schools visited did not pay sufficient attention to the progressive and systematic investigation of the core beliefs of Christianity.”
As a result, pupils often have an “unsystematic and confused” understanding of Christianity.
The report also observed that the experiences of Christian pupils were given less attention than those of other faiths:
“Insufficient attention was paid to diversity within the Christian tradition and to pupils who were actively engaged in Christian practice. Often, their experience was ignored and they had limited opportunity to share their understanding. This sometimes contrasted sharply the more careful attention paid to the experiences of pupils from other religious traditions.”
Religious Education in schools is meant to reflect the Christian heritage of the United Kingdom, (especially given the fact that the majority of the UK’s population profess to be Christian) by giving due attention to teaching on the Christian faith.
The Daily Telegraph commented: “Our youngsters have no chance of understanding the history of Britain unless we teach them the Christian religion, which is the foundation of our culture and traditions.”
Similarly, the Daily Mail wrote: “The rise of multiculturalism has been accompanied by a neglect of the scriptures in our education system which sometimes borders on contempt.
But Christianity is more than a religion in this country. It forms the social, political and cultural basis of more than 1,500 years of British history.”
The report found that Jesus’ parables and miracles were typically used as a launching pad for discussions of other topics, rather than their own theological significance being taught. An example is cited:
“The story of the healing of the blind man was told. The teacher explained that the purpose was to understand what it would feel like to be blind. The pupils were shown a Braille alphabet and used a ‘feely bag’ to explore how difficult it is to be blind. The main task was to write a poem about what they would miss if they were blind.”
“The plenary session involved talking about how people cope with being blind and how lucky the children were to have their sight. The lesson ended with a moment of quiet reflection when the pupils were invited to say thank you to God for their sight.”
The former Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, commented: “There is generally in the culture a kind of embarrassment about talking openly about Christianity that doesn’t apply to other faiths.”
Andrea Minichiello Williams, Director of Christian Concern For Our Nation said: “Denying children the knowledge of the Christian principles on which our country has been founded is robbing them of the chance to understand their nationality. Alfred the Great, the Magna Carta, Shakespeare, our legal system and many other aspects of our history and culture have all been deeply affected by Christianity and the Bible. Children who are confused about the basics of Christianity will be no position to lead the future of the country.
“It’s good that Ofsted is starting to recognise the marginalisation of Christianity. There is a bias against Christianity and all of society will suffer as a result.”