According to a new data, numbers decreased by 1.6 per cent between 2017 and 2018.

Less than half of English secondary schools now offer Religious Education at GCSE and just 237,862 sat the exam this year.

While all schools have a legal requirement to teach the subject, there are insufficient measures to hold them to account.

Chair of the National Association of Teachers of RE, Ben Wood says Religious Education is often viewed as an irrelevant subject.

“For a lot of schools, there is no real incentive to offer the subject if they don’t see it as important. So what we need to look at is how we can make sure RE fits the needs of the students we’ve got in this country.

“The subject has evolved considerably, I think, over the last 30-40 years and continues to do so.”

Entries for GCSE RS in England and Wales peaked in 2011 at 461,795.

Today’s figures show a decline in entries of over 42 per cent in eight years.

Wood suggested the government is responsible: “There’s a lot of pressures on schools in terms of getting everything into their curriculum. What we’re seeing is that a number of subjects are being squeezed out of time. Religious Education is one of them because the government is suggesting that students should see quite a narrow group of subjects. That’s the principal reason for this decline.”

Wood argues that RE offers valuable life lessons that help young people to…

Speaking to Premier Christianity magazine ahead of his UK tour with the Leprosy Mission <link Leprosy Mission to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-leprosy-mission-england-and-wales-23416671258>, Yancey said Christians are increasingly “distracted by politics”

“My understanding is we ought to be following Jesus. And yet a lot of people think our mission is to clean up our country. Make America Great Again. And I’m sure people overseas are just baffled. How can these evangelical Christians support Donald Trump? He doesn’t seem like the kind of person that you would hold up as a role model? And, to me, that’s a distraction. Jesus never seems concerned at all about cleaning up the Roman Empire. Neither does Paul. That was not their mission. And I believe our mission is to create pioneer settlements of the kingdom of God, to show people how we should live based on following Jesus, and to attract them to a better way of life.

“I am writing to try to remind the Church to focus on what we are supposed to be doing. We’re supposed to be presenting a unified front that demonstrates to people the life that Jesus showed us is the best life for the world and to attract them. When we get distracted by politics or disunity, that’s unappealing and turns people off.”

Philip Yancey is one of the bestselling contemporary authors in the world. Titles including What’s so Amazing…

Fires in the Brazilian rainforest have reached record numbers with data from the National Institute for Space Research showing a rise of over 80% from last year.

More than half of these are in the Amazon region.

As the world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon is a vital store of carbon, which slows down the pace of global warming.

Boris Johnson says he’s “deeply concerned” by the wildfires and has called for international action.

The prime minister has vowed to push for a renewed focus on tackling climate change at the G7 summit this weekend.

The Brazilian president has accused world leaders of interfering after Emmanuel Macron described the blazes, which are emitting smoke that can be seen in space, as an “international crisis”.

Environmentalists have blamed Brazil’s leader for perpetuating the problem by encouraging farmers and loggers to clear land there.

Conservation director at A Rocha UK, Andy Lester told Premier of his concerns about the fires. He said: “There are currently nine and a half thousand fires burning across the rain forest that have been started illegally, by people wanting to cattle ranch or mine on land that is not owned by them. That is a major problem because it depleting the rain forest at a rapid rate.

“If we’re seeing huge fires across an area, the size of the UK or more in Brazil, then we know that in some areas of the world like Brazil, far…

The president’s office said President Maithripala Sirisena allowed the emergency rule to lapse by not signing a decree extending it for another month.

The emergency laws gave the military and police sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspects.

Two local Muslim groups have been blamed for the attacks on three churches and three hotels in and around Colombo and the eastern town of Batticaloa.

Seven suicide bombers participated in the attacks.

Another committed suicide after his attempt failed, while another killed herself to avoid capture.

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.

The Prime Minister outlined the UK’s support for freedom of religion or belief as Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, met international counterparts at the UN in New York today.

A statement from Mr Johnson said the UK will implement recommendations made by the Bishop of Truro on protecting people from religious persecution, and would use the UK’s “global reach” to help people facing the same issues elsewhere in the world.

Mr Johnson said: “Freedom of religion or belief is at the heart of what the UK stands for.

“We will do everything possible to champion these freedoms and protect civilians in armed conflict, including religious, ethnic or other minorities.

“We are determined to use the tools of British diplomacy in this cause, including our permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

“In light of mounting evidence that Christians suffer the most widespread persecution, we asked the Anglican Bishop of Truro to carry out an independent review to ensure that our work in this area matched the scale of the problem.

“We have accepted, and will implement, all of the Review’s challenging recommendations.

“We will use the UK’s global reach and programme funding to improve the lives of persecuted people. Today we are opening a call for bids on how to take this forward.”

Lord Ahmad said: “Those belonging to religious minorities face a…