The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Religious Education found that the teaching of different beliefs and values was often given to teaching assistants, who receive little support, training or guidance.
A three-month inquiry by the APPG into the supply of and support for RE teachers in schools, including a review of evidence from more than 400 sources, stated that more than half of those teaching RE in secondary schools had no qualification or relevant expertise in the subjects.
The report found that teachers often lacked confidence, particularly in diverse and multi-cultural classrooms. Support for RE teachers at a local level had been hit by cuts to local authority funding because of the academies programme, MPs said. Furthermore bursaries for RE trainees have been cut leading to a big reductions in application for 2013/14.
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