The RE Digest is a round-up of world news from across the internet that is relevant to religious education. In the first quarter of the year there has been particular concern about the impact that cuts to UK school budgets will have on subjects such as religious education, and discussions about the important role that RE plays in helping young people make sense of what they see in the news.
- Pupils should have the same entitlement to religion and belief education – NSS tells RE Commission (National Secular Society, 13 February 2017)
- Muslim parents sending their children to Christian schools to prepare them for ‘life in modern Britain’ (The Telegraph, 20 February 2017)
- In a world of hate, fear and ‘alternative facts’, education really does matter (Open Democracy UK, 27 February 2017)
- ‘Can we live without God?’ first humanist textbook for schools asks (TES, 2 March 2017)
- Religious education could be the flagship for a whole school revolution of the skill of inquiry – and here’s how to get started (TES, 20 March 2017)
- Liberal Democrats vote to end religious selection amongst state schools (politics.co.uk, 20 March 2017)
- Headteachers talk of gloomy prognosis as schools face budget squeeze (Gazette and Herald, 29 March 2017)
- Religion in schools? It’s vital (The Herald Scotland, 7 April 2017)
- School budget squeeze ‘is reducing pupils’ subject choice’ (BBC News, 7 April 2017)
- The role of religious education in shaping Muslim self-identities (Kashmir Images, 8 April 2017)
- Over 40 schools allowed to stop daily Christian worship (Schools Week, 9 April 2017)
- US Sikhs launch ad campaign that looks to push back on hate (AP The Big Story, 12 April 2017)
- Fake news spreads to UK as pupils cite Trump Propaganda as fact (Newsweek,13 April 2017)
- Non-religious parents offered an ‘atheists’ school survival guide’ (iNews, 20 April 2017)