by Rachel Pictor Roberts

Created on: May 24, 2010

Should public schools offer courses in the Bible? To answer this question we need to consider the role of the school.

Schools are intended to provide a balanced education that covers the essentials with Maths, English and Science at the core. Further topics such as religious studies, geography and art are often included to give a well-rounded and diverse education. These topics, while not considered unimportant, are not given the same level of focus as the ‘essentials’. After all, not every employer requires a GCSE in Religious studies but they do expect you to have at least a C grade in Maths and English.

The role of public schools is the same, although they tend to be more ambitious with their educational offering. If you pay to send your children to school you may expect to get something extra for your money but they are not obliged to focus on religious matters any more than their government funded counterparts.

That is not to say we discount the value of religious study. Many students take a particular interest in religion and it can form a useful basis for many careers, both secular and religious. It is a subject which provides endless capacity for debate and philosophising as well as moral instruction.  

A matter of choice?

Some colleges and Universities are known for specialising in a particular topic or field so why not the same of schools? We already have a mixture of religious and secular schools in Britain. If you have a teacher who knows the Bible sufficiently to teach it as part of an in depth course but no counterpart to teach the Quran then they may choose to specialise in Christian teachings.

In the interests of balance some people may feel that if a public school wishes to offer an elective course on the Bible then it must also prepare to offer elective courses on other religious texts. This is not necessarily true or even possible. And what about other subjects? Once you open the Bible and other religious texts to further study within schools where do you stop? What about intensive algebra courses, or extra drama?

It would be great if every school could say they had the resources to offer a course to every child on every major religion and perhaps even a few minor ones too. As it is, the mixed ground of the standard religious education classes must suffice and students with specific interests must learn to study by themselves to further their knowledge. This is true of every subject currently taught at public schools.

If

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