Welsh govt launch consultation on Religious Education

The consultation is open for the next eight weeks, until the 25th March, as part of a wider shake-up of the Welsh curriculum unveiled by the Minister for Education Kirsty Williams on Monday.

One of the proposed changes to RE in the government’s White Paper reads: “It is our intention also that RE reflects our historical and contemporary relationship in Wales to philosophy and religious views, including non-religious beliefs.

“Therefore the current legislation will be amended to ensure the agreed syllabus for RE takes account of non-religious world views which are analogous to religions (e.g. humanism).

Humanists UK, who campaigned on the inclusion of non-religious views, said this was a ‘great advance for children and families’.

Other potential changes include no longer making RE compulsory for sixth-form students and asking parents whether they still agree that there should remain an option to withdraw a pupil from RE or Relationships and Sex Education classes.

The opposite has been proposed for early year learners – the White Paper suggests that children should no longer be allowed to be taken out of Religious Education in school nursery classes “to ensure parity for all subjects”.

They say: “We believe learners of all ages can benefit from knowledge of the broad spectrum of religious, philosophical and cultural traditions held by people in Wales.”

Today I launched our Curriculum & Assessment White Paper: a consultation on the legislative framework to facilitate implementing our #CurriculumforWales. This is your opportunity to feed into this legislative process & tell me your views!

Respond here https://t.co/3VoQlTzgJRpic.twitter.com/uBEbfxL37T

— Kirsty Williams (@wgmin_education) January 28, 2019

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Welsh politicians are seeking opinions on including humanism and making RE compulsory in nursery.