Father of the House of Commons, Sir Peter Bottomley MP, has joined calls for Religious Studies (RS) to be properly funded.
The number of students in England and Wales taking RS at GCSE level this year saw a slight increase of 0.3% on last year's figures, rising to 253,906 - making it more popular than business studies, design and technology, and art and design.
At the same time, however, the number of people seeking to train as RS teachers has fallen by a third, according to the Religious Education Council of England and Wales (REC) and National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (NATRE).
Sir Peter has joined the two organisations in calling for more funding to ensure that the subject is taught by properly qualified teachers.
According to REC and NATRE, over a quarter (26%) of RS lesson hours are taught by teachers who do not hold a qualification in the subject higher than A level, while around half of teachers delivering RE lessons spend most of their time teaching a different subject.
They want to see an increase in training bursaries to attract more trainee RS teachers.
Sir Peter, who is calling for a National Plan to protect the subject, said, "RE continues to play a pivotal part in the education of young people across the country, allowing them to understand and academically engage with some of the moral and theological debates that continue to inform our society.
"A National Plan would scale out a modern and relevant curriculum in the faiths, cultures and beliefs of modern Britain taught by highly trained and committed teachers.
"Neglecting the subject in this fashion does a disservice to the quarter of a million young people who take it at GCSE every year."
REC Chair, Sarah Lane Cawte, said, "RS is one of the most popular subjects at GCSE, yet bizarrely it does not receive the corresponding funding and support.
"Teacher training applications have not recovered since the axing of the bursary in 2021, and no money has been spent on the subject for five years. We want an even distribution of funding across the curriculum to ensure young people taking the subject receive their fair share of support from the government."
NATRE Chair, Katie Freeman, said: "An RE lesson offers a unique and much needed place for young people to explore life's big questions, build societal cohesion and contribute to their spiritual and academic development.
It's a real travesty that one of the most popular subjects at GCSE has not received fair allocation of government support to ensure every young person in every school receives this opportunity."
