Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said it was clear that the Ebacc and Progress 8 performance measures were squeezing arts subjects out of schools. However, the EPI found that high-performing schools that achieved good results in arts subjects were more likely to continue offering them to pupils. The Ebacc was also blamed in part for the failure of state schools to teach the required amount of religious education. The Commission on Religious Education – made up of academics and educationalists – called for “strategic, urgent intervention” to halt the decline in religious education (RE) in schools, in a report also published on Thursday. “The evidence is that too many state schools are failing to meet their legal obligations to provide religious education for all students.

Source: The Guardian September 20, 2017 22:52 UTC