A bursary to encourage new teachers of Religious Education has been scrapped, despite the subject facing a staff shortage.
The Chair of the Religious Education Council has told Premier Christian News she is “disappointed” at the move, and urged the government to take faith studies seriously.
“What is going on here?” said Sarah Lane Cawte, who is a Christian. “What is the rationale for this subject, where it's crucial to our society, it's crucial to our children and young people, but it's not prioritised?”
The bursary had been available to those in teacher training, who chose to specialise in Religious Education. It will no longer be available, to those starting their training post September 2026.
The scrapping comes as a huge blow to the understaffed subject. In the last year, it only secured 53.6 per cent of its total target number of teachers.
Lane-Cawte said she is “baffled” that other subjects have retained a bursary, despite having an excess of specialised staff.
“Chemistry has over-recruited in the last year,” she told Premier. “It's got a cut to the bursary, but there is still a bursary there.”
Those who teach faith studies say that this is another symptom of a government that does not prioritise spiritual learning. They fear that losing access to faith education risks worsening divisions in an already fragmented society.
“Apart from the academic benefits of RE, it can help our young people to understand more about the people they live alongside, and to develop a more cohesive community,” Lane-Cawte said.
“We so much need that at the moment - you can't understate the benefits that RE brings to young people.”
The Religious Education Council is urging the Department of Education to reinstate the funding.
In a response statement to Premier, the Department of Education said: "The Department reviews and usually alters bursaries every year. The amount of money we provide correlates with our teacher recruitment and retention pipeline. As there were an additional 2,300 teachers in schools this year compared to last year, the incentives package reflects that."