CONCERNS have been raised that religious education (RE) is seen as less important than other subjects by some schools.

The issue was discussed by the standing advisory council for religious education (SACRE), in Chichester, which heard some schools were not meeting the legal requirements to teach the subject.

A survey of West Sussex secondary schools showed that, in the majority, children in Years 7, 8 and 9 were receiving an hour or less of RE per week.

In addition, at GCSE level, almost half of students who did not opt to take the subject, received no religious studies.

Members recognised that this was a nationwide issue, but Jacky Pendleton said the figures worried her.

She said: “Why is it that we get to an age when we’re learning morality, we’re learning more about living in the world, less cosseted by our parents, more independent, and we’re not talking about religious studies as a substantive subject?”

Several members thought RE was being marginalised in schools.

While it was pointed out the subject was often absorbed into other areas such as PSHE, they said more needed to be done to make it “more relevant to people, more powerful and more than just an addition to the curriculum”.

The survey showed 35 children in secondary school had been withdrawn from the classes so they could work on their numeracy and literary skills.

Only a few were withdrawn at their parents’ request, mostly for academic reasons, though two families did not want their children to study Islam.

Members pointed out that in today’s diverse society, it was more important than ever for children to learn about and understand each other’s beliefs.

Councillor Brian Quinn, read a comment from a Year 10 RE student, who said: “Studying RE has helped me have more friends in school – there are other faiths in school and my best friend is a Muslim. We are connected because we’ve got to understand each other’s faiths through RE.”

SACRE agreed to write to headteachers to raise the issues with them.