Do you find your RE lessons helpful, or would you rather be playing, learning maths or doing PE? Not all secondary schools around the UK have the opportunity to learn RE. Why is this? Is it unnecessary for them to know about people, religions and their culture? Or is it a waste of vital education time?

 

Some students believe that the education of religions is vital for a person and that they need at least a basic understanding of religions before entering the "real world".This is because everyone wants to avoid prejudiced assumptions about people they do not know very well. They do not want to judge without knowing that person's cultural and religious background. It is said that learning about religions can decrease the number of people getting bullied and discriminated.

 

Contrastly, others may argue that learning about religions and people's beliefs is a waste of students' time and that they are just messing around during those periods and not focusing and truly learning anything. Some students believe there are more important things to do and learn during their secondary school years than RE and that it is just a lesson to mess around in as it "won't affect their future".

 

I asked a group of students what they thought about this. Around 55% of students said that they are beneficial for their future and that they are happy to have the opportunity to have lessons where they get to understand other cultures. On the other hand, around 30% of students said that RE is useless and not helpful to them. They said that most people only get a little work done and that it will only benefit them if they want to become an RE teacher when they are older. Finally, the last 15% of students said that Re is useful to learn, but they need to learn more and know how to apply it in the future. They do not mind doing RE and do not want to change that.

 

What do you think? Do you think learning Re at secondary school is useful?