TEACHERS urgently need more training in biblical literacy, an
All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) investigating RE teaching in
English schools has heard.
Evidence submitted by the Bible Society said that there was a
"pressing need" for more training for teachers, particularly in
primary schools, where RE is often taught by staff with no
expertise in the subject.
A former government education adviser and teacher, Ann Holt,
said that teachers often received only two hours' training on RE in
the whole of their training course. "The most pressing need of
teachers of RE, in both the primary and secondary sectors, is for
further training in biblical literacy," she said.
The APPG was set up last year to safeguard the teaching of
religious education in Britain's schools (
News, 24 February 2012). This followed the signing of a motion
by 115 MPs that demanded a debate on including the RE GCSE in the
English Baccalaureate (
News, 4 March 2011).
Recent research from Oxford University found that the teaching
of Christianity was often "incoherent, lacking in intellectual
development, or too stereotypical" (
News, 30 November 2012).