A significant number of people in England, parents and teachers, would prefer the American approach. They argue that England is no longer a religious country. Fewer and fewer people attend church, so why should time in schools be wasted on something that does not concern the majority of the population? Isn't, they ask, religion a matter for the home and the Church? Teachers aren't priests, and they should not be asked to proselytise for a particular faith.

What, too, are teachers meant to do when they work in a school where children have many different faiths? Should, to give an extreme example, Christmas festivities be scrapped because Muslim children might not understand and their parents be offended?

The counter view is that the decline in church attendance makes it more important to retain Religious Education as a compulsory subject in our schools. It is not, on this view, a matter of whether children or their parents believe in a particular faith, rather that it is important for children to be taught about the different religions practised by people living in England in the 21st century. The premise here is that intolerance and bigotry often stem from fear, and we fear that which we do not understand.

Teachers of RE try to develop this understanding, and hopefully to encourage their pupils to appreciate how much different religions have in common. Their aim is not, as critics argue, to seek to convert children to a particular faith: it is to teach their pupils about minority religions such as Islam, Sikhism, Judaism, and of course Christianity. This knowledge will help them to live more tolerant lives as adults in a multi-faith, multi-cultural Britain.

I say, 'of course Christianity', but there is a problem here. We are, historically at least, a Christian country. The Queen is the Defender of the Faith – the Christian faith. More time should therefore be given to the teaching of Christianity than to any other religion. What, though, of areas like, say, Whitechapel in the East End of London, where the majority of children come from non-Christian homes?

My own view is clear. We have a moral responsibility to teach every child in every school about English values, history, and religious beliefs. They need to know so that, in due course, they can decide what they themselves think. The alternative is ignorance, an ignorance which will condemn some children to a life isolated from the culture of the country in which they grow up.

It is of course equally important to ensure that every child growing up in England understands something of minority religions. Religious Education lessons are essential. The challenge though is to make them better. The school's inspectorate Ofsted routinely reports that teaching in Religious Education is weak. A former Prime Minister who says that education is his greatest priority and who has sought to create a more tolerant, inclusive society should have done more to raise standards in this key subject.

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