§ 23. Sir John Biggs-DavisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what comparative study he has made of the suitability of the agreed syallabus obtaining in various local education authority areas, in the light of public concern at the ignorance among young people of the Bible and Christianity; what report he has received of the extent to which the statutory collective act of worship is observed or neglected; and if he will institute an appropriate inquiry into the current state of religious education.
§ Mrs. RumboldMy right hon. Friend does not have details of all current locally agreed syllabuses; but he is not persuaded on the evidence available to him that any are unsuitable, and the evidence suggests that the vast majority give Christianity a central place. There is evidence that some schools fail to provide collective worship as required by the present law. Where such matters are brought to my right hon. Friend's attention by complaint or otherwise, they are followed up by the Department; in 1987 seven complaints were received. The Education Reform Bill contains a number of measures to strengthen the position of religious education in the schools curriculum, and to update the law on collective worship as recommended by the Education, Science and Arts Select Committee. My right hon. Friend has no plans to institute any inquiry.
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§ 53. Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what recent representations he has received about the future of religious education in England and Wales.
§ Mrs. RumboldA large number of letters have been received, from hon. Members and others. These expressed concern at the exclusion of religious education from the national curriculum, and about a lack of Christian content in the subject. The Education Reform Bill has been amended in another place to strengthen the position of religious education in schools; the Christian content of religious education will be considered further in the other place at a later stage of the Bill.