RE Northern Ireland

At the annual conferences of both the Presbyterian and Church of Ireland churches the respective Boards of Education expressed their concern over the current support for RE and RE teachers from the Education and Library Boards. This has been caused, they believe, by the uncertainty over the establishment of the Education and Skills Authority (ESA). As a result, they say, there is 'a deficit in the support of RE teachers and teaching.' For some time now, Education and Library Boards have chosen not to fill their vacant posts for RE Board Officers. This has resulted in a significant depletion of personnel and, consequently, the scaling back of support activity for RE in the boards. This comes at a time when the churches are also concerned about the impact the establishment of the ESA may have upon the status and ethos of Controlled schools. The Presbyterian Church notes that proposals currently under discussion have the potential to radically alter their ownership rights in edu

In the recent weeks students have sat the first papers of the new CCEA RE GCSE specification. In many ways nothing remarkable, yet when one considers the history of Religious Education in Northern Ireland, as well as the existing legislation, the formal teaching and assessment of world religions at Key Stage 4 as well as the study of denominational RE is nothing short of remarkable. The CCEA specification offers students the choice of nine modules including: The Christian Church (focusing on the Protestant and/or Catholic tradition); study of a Gospel (Matthew or Mark); Christian Ethics; Islam; Judaism; and the Philosophy of Religion. To complete a half GCSE students choose one module and two for a full GCSE. As it stands, the statutory syllabus for religious education in Northern Ireland does not include any world religions at Key Stage 4 and the legislation on teaching RE in in controlled schools in Northern Ireland forbids denominational teaching. The broadening of the curriculum is