A case for religious education in schools

Mr Namiti is spot on as far as urging schools in Uganda to teach financial literacy. We would even urge the adults to also take lessons in financial literacy. What I find intriguing is his suggestion that financial literacy be a substitute for religious education (RE). He specifically targeted Islamic and Christian education and also presumably African traditional or indigenous religious traditions and philosophy. 

Is the slicing off RE from the syllabus the sacrifice we must make for financial literacy? 

A case can be made for teaching RE in schools at both primary and secondary level. In societies that are ‘incurably religious’, as John S Mbiti described African society in his ground-breaking book, African Traditional Religions & Philosophy, religion can be used as a vehicle for communicating important lessons about ethics, but also about education, health, care for the environment and for changing social attitudes. 

Mr Namiti has argued that there is no evidence that religion necessarily produces morally upright people. He contracts the high levels of corruption in Ugandan society with a virtual absence of the vice in secularised Denmark in support of his argument. 

Comparing countries at different economic and technological levels is not easy. Denmark (or Sweden) may have lower levels of corruption than say Uganda, Nigeria or Pakistan. Are those countries more compassionate than Uganda or Tanzania? Have Denmark or Singapore or New Zealand advanced because those of school-going age are financially literate?

You don’t need religion in order to be moral. However, it is also true that for many people on the globe, religion informs their ethical character and relationships. Further, the purpose of a disciplined study of religion is not merely to impart morality in the learner or to indoctrinate, so to speak. 

Talking about the Bible, for instance – it is not just a book about moral instruction or guidance. It contains poetry, history, law, mythology, and Psalmody.

Reasons for studying religion include learning about the creativity of the human spirit; becoming aware of the forces that shape or have shaped the identities and social morals of varied communities; ideas about the common good, and ideas about human accountability.

To understand the culture of a people, one may have to study their religious ideas and practices, as religion and culture often interface. Studying religion in an academic context such as the classroom has an edge over the devotional reading in that learners are encouraged to ask critical questions of the religion under study.

Among those pupils undertaking religious studies may emerge those who will study it at a higher level and add to the fund of knowledge in Uganda and Africa. For, currently, there is a paucity of literature on religion and its interface with other areas of knowledge on the African continent.

Mr Namiti concluded his opinion with a blast. “Jesus and Bible studies cannot buy medicine or pay tuition fees,” he wrote. Not everything that we learn or value in life is assessed in material terms. 

Jesus and the Bible may not buy medicine or pay tuition fees, but they may motivate and inspire us to work, support our families and contribute to society and to human flourishing.

Amos Kasibante is a student of religion, based in the United Kingdom