大象传媒

As children across Wales return for a new school year, one subject is proving surprisingly popular.

Figures from the latest A-level results in England and Wales show that entries for religious studies have more than doubled in the past 12 years; they鈥檙e rising faster than for any other subject in the Arts, Humanities or Social Sciences.

But will the trend continue in Wales if radical changes are made in the curriculum? Education and Skills Minister Huw Lewis told the Senedd this summer that he supported plans to rebrand the subject as 鈥渞eligion, philosophy and ethics鈥�, with a specific commitment allowing children to explore ideas around ethics, citizenship and 鈥榳hat it means to be a citizen of a free country.鈥�

Which sounds very topical, but what does it mean for the areas currently being covered? Will it dilute the study of religion, or make it richer? And why should religion still be on any school timetable anyway?

Roy Jenkins is joined by Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, Chair of Accord, a coalition of organisations which campaigns on legislation covering faith schools, Neera Vyas, who has more than 20 years鈥� experience as an RE teacher and is a practising Hindu, Abdul-Azim Ahmed, Assistant Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Wales; and Dave Kitchen a former Headmaster and Methodist Preacher.