The problem has led to a new recruitment drive being launched in a bid to attract career-changers and graduates to train as RE teachers.
The on-going teacher recruitment crisis has seen the government fail to hit its secondary recruitment targets for five years running now.
RE has been consistently among those subjects hit hard, especially after the subject was left out of the humanities bracket within the English Baccalaureate measure.
Earlier this month, the Religious Education Council of England and Wales (REC) warned that applications for RE teacher training places are now down by around 38 per cent year-on-year. Just 63 per cent of the government target was reached in 2017 (405 teachers being recruited against the target of 643).
It means that other teachers and school staff are having to step in. According to the government’s 2016 School Workforce Census, 55 per cent of staff teaching RE in schools have no post-A level qualification in the subject.
The REC holds that high-quality specialist teaching about all faiths, beliefs and world views is essential for all young people and is lobbying the Department for Education to offer higher bursaries for RE teachers.
Currently a first-class degree holder will receive £9,000 and an upper second-class degree holder will receive £4,000 towards their training costs. Training for similar specialist subjects, such as geography and classics, offers a grant of £26,000.
The REC is concerned about the impact the lack of teachers could have. In September, an analysis of the School Workforce Census by the REC and the National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE) found that many secondary schools are struggling to meet their legal obligations to teach pupils about major religions and systems of belief.
All state-funded schools, including academies and free schools, are legally required to provide RE as part of a balanced curriculum. However, 28 per cent of secondaries admitted that they give no dedicated curriculum time to RE and in 25 per cent of schools a weekly lesson is not available. RE also receives the lowest level of teaching time in academies and free schools.
NATRE’s research officer, Deborah Weston, said: “These statistics highlight serious problems that have implications for cohesion and inclusivity in our society, as well as presenting questions around the role of specialist RE teachers in schools.
“By developing knowledge and understanding about different religions and worldviews in the security of a classroom, young people have the opportunity to engage with complex, diverse and constantly evolving subject matter.
“Today, it is important to be religiously literate and to understand and question the accuracy of claims about different religions. RE provides for critical exploration of individual beliefs and values, while opening up the discussion about religion and belief in the communities we live in. These figures are alarming as they provide statistical evidence of a trend we have been hearing about from RE teachers, and come at a time where respect and tolerance for others’ beliefs is essential.”
REC chief executive, Rudolf Eliott Lockhart, added: “More than ever, as our society becomes multicultural and religious extremism dominates the news agenda, we need young people to be religiously literate.
“We have been encouraged by an improved profile and better understanding for RE in schools from policy-makers at both Ofsted and the Department for Education. They have committed to paying closer attention to RE, which makes the statistics about schools’ struggling to provide required levels of RE all the more alarming.”
“RE knowledge is vital in ensuring all school leavers go into the world of work and beyond, understanding the differences, identifying distortions and being part of the broader change needed to ensure communities are cohesive and well-integrated for future generations.”
The REC is at the head of a consortium of organisations leading the new recruitment campaign. Entitled Beyond the Ordinary, the campaign has been run before and has led to surges in applications, most recently in 2016. It has now been relaunched.
Campaign lead, Kathryn Wright, director of the Teach RE course at Culham St Gabriel’s, said: “We have proved that showcasing the intellectual challenge of the subject and highlighting the rewards for teachers who have the opportunity to tackle complex and sensitive issues with teenagers, really resonates.
“We’re hoping to interest more would-be RE teachers who have a rich understanding of – and interest in – the subject, as well as real-life experiences to navigate this fascinating, highly-relevant subject.”
Fronted by RE teacher Lynsey Wilkinson, from Redhill Academy in Nottinghamshire, the campaign will use media partnerships, social media and direct-mail campaigns to drive awareness and point prospective candidates to a promotional film which tells the story of Lynsey’s experience.
- For more information on the campaign, visit www.teachre.co.uk/beyondtheordinary and for the campaign video, see http://bit.ly/2EITKdl