* RE would indeed contravene human rights if it were a platform for indoctrination or instruction into a particular religion, but this is not what it is about.
RE is first and foremost education and is a safeguard against indoctrination, offering a forum for reasoned consideration of the major belief systems which have shaped our world and continue to do so.
Never has it been more important for pupils to be equipped with proper knowledge and understanding of religion and the skills of discernment about what it might or might not be reasonable to believe.
For these reasons it has an important place in the curriculum and can make a valuable contribution to any sixth-form general studies programme.
Christine Chalstrey
(RE teacher, Wychwood school, Oxford), 25 Holliers Crescent
Middle Barton, Oxon
