Religious education to be stripped of its academic value in Spain

RELIGIOUS education is to be stripped of its academic value under Spain’s new education chief, Isabel Celaa.

Announcing the reform, the Minister said RE would still be an option as a class subject but will no longer influence school grades or count towards a scholarship.

The measure dates back to the education law (LOE) passed by the PSOE in 2006 and substituted by the LOMCE in 2015 which gave religion greater academic clout and lead to a 38% rise in students taking the subject in the hope of an easy pass.

Meanwhile, a new subject has been added to the curricula: Civil and Ethical Values, similar to the old Education for Citizenship course which existed under the LOE.