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This is the key finding in a Bible Society report that has gone before the All Party Parliamentary Group on Religious Education. Bible Society was among several organisations that contributed to a consultation on the subject last month.
The All Party Group was set up in 2012 to safeguard the teaching of religious education in Britain’s schools. Bible Society’s report to the All Party Group said that there was a ‘gap’ between how students saw the Bible and how teachers felt about it. And it infers that teachers are not sufficiently trained to teach the subject. ‘Pupils consider the Bible to be important, relevant and worthy of respect,’ said Bible Society’s Canon Dr Ann Holt, a former government education adviser and teacher, ‘whereas teachers expect students to describe the Bible as boring, old-fashioned and irrelevant.’ Hear more from Ann on Premier Radio.
Ann added that it was vital that students ‘became more aware’ that the Bible’s relevance was not only for Christians. And she said that the ‘challenge inherent in teaching’ about the Bible ‘must be addressed’ particularly because there was a ‘worrying trend that biblical illiteracy is on the increase among young people’.
‘RE remains the place where pupils gain significant biblical knowledge, yet this biblical knowledge doesn’t always develop into its fullest potential,’ she said. ‘The most pressing needs of teachers of RE in both the primary and secondary sectors is for further training in biblical literacy,’ she added.
