Religious studies voted among least important subjects

It is considered the fourth least important subject in a poll, just above Drama, Classics and Latin.

Only twelve per cent polled think RE is ‘very important‘, with the majority saying either ‘not very important’ or ‘not at all important’.

Premier spoke to Professor Trevor Cooling from the National Institute for Christian Education Research at Canterbury Christ Church University.

He told Premier News Hour: “I think it reflects the current lack of understanding that there is in society in general about the place that religion and belief play in people’s lives and it seems to me we need to work hard at improving that understanding.”

Elaborating on why RE may has lot its value he said: “We live in a very secularised society and an increasingly materialistic society and one of the things that came out of the YouGov poll was the very, very high value on things like Maths and English and Science… that reflects a society where we seem to value the things that have scientific feel to them.
“We’ve lost sight of the other dimensions of human life which comes from the creative arts in subjects like History and Religious Education.”

Professor Cooling said he fundamentally disagrees with the merge of religious education into other subjects, such as citizenship or ‘world view’ classes, something which is on the table.

Premier also spoke to Alistair Lichten from the National…