Extinction of RE?

Religious education in schools is under threat, faith leaders have warned.

The BBC reports that "Leaders representing Christians, Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists said they were "gravely concerned" about the "negative impact" that current government policies were having."

In a letter to the Daily Telegraph they called for RE to be included in the new English Baccalaureate. In response, the Department for Education (DfE) claimed that the English Baccalaureate "does not stop any school offering RE GCSEs".

Obviously religious leaders will be the first to shout about the loss of their cultural histories from the curriculum.

I come at it from a different angle. As a non-subscriber to religion, I still don't endorse this move at all.

Religious education was some of the only real grounding I ever got in the customs, beliefs and history of other cultures.

The languages (and thus to an extent cultures) on the curriculums of most schools are mostly Western, Christian ones. The history syllabus is similarly Western in outlook. Geography, whilst it might open some doors to different cultures, inevitably does so in a different way that suits some learners but not others. RE, for me, was a way into understanding a little more about other religions, countries and ideas.

Surely education and information are essential ways to provide links between communities, encourage open discussion about cultural differences and to promote understanding about faith.

Having RE squeezed out of the curriculum seems to fight against the Big Society that this government is trying to create, and narrows rather than widens our perceptions of society and culture.

Five schools 'send more to Oxbridge than 2,000 others'

The BBC Today programme's revelation that just five schools 'send more to Oxbridge than 2,000 others' isn't really a great surprise to me.

Having been lucky enough to have studied at Oxford, it is easy to see that independent school pupils dominate the student body. They also dominate the applicants.

I went to an independent school and apart from anything else, their desperate desire to get students into Oxbridge sets them apart. Parents want and need to see high Oxbridge entrance statistics.

Teachers who have been to Oxbridge are recruited. Admissions tutors are invited to speak. Ex-pupils who have attended the coveted universities come back to give talks. Half the year group are encouraged to apply, given the law of averages that means every year some who are expected to get in don't, and vice versa. Those who don't get in often take gap years and re-apply, with the blessing (and financial backing) of their parents.

The kind of pupil who goes to an independent school (especially such academically high-flying ones as the BBC lists), usually has:

- already been selected on the basis of their academic ability and then usually setted on ability throughout their education

- been praised and rewarded for their academic ability, through scholarships and a culture of success

- been raised by parents who place a high value on academic success and intellectual development

None of this should be exclusive to independent schools, but unfortunately a lot of it often seems to be.

Top universities have a responsibility to take the brightest and the best; those who will thrive best in their hallowed halls.

The class barrier and the money barrier are often labelled as the most important factors to achieving the most prestigious higher education, but actually none of the points I have listed are costly.

We need to work towards making these factors more accessible to all students long before we start worrying about what university they'll end up at.