Written question asked by Graham Allen (Labour) on Tuesday, 15 March 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 23 March 2005. It was answered by Barry Gardiner (Labour) on Wednesday, 23 March 2005 on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office.

Northern Ireland Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he plans to take to broaden the religious and other value system education in schools in Northern Ireland. (Failed OPQ)

Answer: Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he plans to take to broaden the religious and other value system education in schools in Northern Ireland. [222770] Mr. Gardiner: The Religious Education Core Syllabus is intended to comprise about half of the teaching time for RE, allowing schools scope to include other religions and value systems if they wish. The revised core syllabus that has been drawn up by the four main churches in Northern Ireland addresses the study of other world religions. In addition, Citizenship education, which will cover issues such as religious diversity, is currently being rolled out to all post- primary schools and will become compulsory from September 2006.

Secondary information