Religious education and social cohesion

A recent report by Theos, in conjunction with Culham St Gabriel's, titled ‘Beyond the Classroom: Informal Religion and Worldviews Education in the UK’ reinforces again the importance of religious literacy and that religious education shouldn't simply be seen as the sole remit of schools. That doesn't mean there's not a real need to have religious education as a core subject of the National Curriculum, and thus a foundational part of every child's education, and it's very pleasing to read that might happen in the future. 

The Civil Society Covenant has reinforced the centrality of faith to community cohesion, and by extension to how real impact and change can happen. In order for the silos in our communities to be removed so that public (and private) services can be delivered properly, efficiently and with compassion, we need to know our communities. That doesn't just mean knowing, for example, who your local authority is, but includes knowing which faith groups operate in your area and having some understanding of what they believe, value, need and struggle with.  

The aforementioned report concludes with:

“Greater formal literacy will lead to greater informal opportunities for religious education, which will in turn mean a more religiously literate population and a more cohesive community. That this is not currently occurring universally is a missed opportunity for a better society.”

Our society is more polemic than ever before, yet there are increasing needs within each community. Change can't happen unless we understand each other better. Religious and belief literacy surely must be a part of that.