Shortage of RE teachers “dangerous cycle” within religious education
The shortage of religious education teachers has been highlighted in a Religion Media Centre briefing. Only six people have come forward to train as RE teachers in Wales, and in England no RE teacher training courses have reached their target of entries. Hundreds have their applications pending because their degrees have not been finalised due to the university lecturers’ strike action. Dr Tim Hutchings, from the University of Nottingham, told the briefing that there was a dangerous cycle emerging in the study of Religious Education, where GCSE entries are stable with RE remaining as the 7th most popular subject, A-level results show a slight dip in entries, fewer students choose to study Theology or Religious Studies at university and fewer have chosen to train to teach RE. Teachers, academics and advisers told the briefing that headteachers want to include RE in the curriculum as the understanding of religion is vital in a global society, but the lack of specialist teachers is an issue. The RE council is campaigning for the government to create a national plan to support high standards in RE provision and bursaries to encourage new teachers. The briefing will go up on our YouTube channel here.
G20 Interfaith Forum starts two day meeting
The G20 Interfaith Forum, a gathering of 2,000 religious leaders running in parallel with the G20 in India, is underway in Pune. The IF20 includes discussions on issues discussed by world leaders such as sustainable development, climate change, women’s rights, education, technology and peace. The event is held at the World Peace Dome in conjunction with the MIT World Peace University and the Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities. Its president is Professor W Cole Durham, from Brigham Young University, founded by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
PM urged to call for release of Sikh campaigner in India
More than 70 MPs have signed a letter to the Prime Minister, calling on him to call for the release of campaigner Jagtar Singh Johal, when he travels to India for the G20 leaders’ summit this week. Mr Johal, 36, from Dumbarton in Scotland, a blogger and campaigner for Sikh human rights, travelled to India in October 2017 to get married but was hooded, bundled into a car and detained. The MPs say in their letter that Mr Johal was tortured and made to record video statements and sign blank pieces of paper. Tory MP David Davis told the BBC that the government should be raising the most serious protests but that is not happening and he accused the Foreign Office of failing “its most fundamental duty.”
GP who prayed with patient not guilty of serious misconduct
A GP in Margate has been told by a medical tribunal that he “overstepped the boundaries” when he prayed with a patient. ButDr Richard Scott, who had previously run two mission hospitals in Tanzania, has been found not guilty of serious misconduct. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service heard that he clasped a patient’s hand in prayer and gave him a Bible. He told the tribunal that he decided against the use of anti-depressants and discussed counselling before asking permission to “tackle his issues from a third, spiritual, angle”. The tribunal found that although the patient did consent to undertake a spiritual discussion, Dr Scott “then overstepped the boundaries”. GMC guidance states doctors may practise medicine in accordance with their beliefs provided they do not cause distress to patients. BBC report here
Muslim schoolgirls in France sent home for wearing banned abaya
French schools have sent home dozens of girls for refusing to remove their abayas, long robes, which have been banned by the government. Education minister Gabriel Attal said nearly 300 girls went back to school this week wearing an abaya. Most agreed to change, but 67 refused and were sent home. If they did so again there would be “a new dialogue”. The abaya was banned because it violated secular laws in education. Headscarves were banned for the same reason in 2004 and both moves have been criticised as Islamophobic. President Emmanuel Macron has defended the abaya ban, saying there was a minority in France who “hijack a religion and challenge the republic and secularism”, leading to the “worst consequences”. Guardian story here
Jewish community leaders’ “frank meetings” with Israeli government minister
Israel’s diaspora minister Amichai Chikli, held meetings with Jewish community leaders at the Israeli embassy in London yesterday. The Jewish News quoted participants saying these were “frank, and not always comfortable.” Its report said the Board of Deputies’ President Marie van der Zyl and chief executive Michael Wegier stressed that the Israeli government’s planned judicial overhaul, which limits the p[ower of the Supreme Court to cancel government decisions, had sparked significant concern. They also raised pressures faced by the Israeli LGBT community, the rights of Reform Jews and challenges of Arab citizens, and urged him to relay this back to the government.
