How religious education should be taught in classrooms?

First we need to understand the whole importance and concept of religious freedom. Religious freedom signifies that it is a fundamental human right and you have the right to express, think and act upon your religious beliefs. It also denotes that, it is a freedom of conscience to be able to own up religious doctrines for mental and emotional well being. It is as much as duty as it is a right for every civilian to carry out. These religious freedom allows citizens to practice religious rules, read holy books, attend weekly prayer call or maybe some other activities which are required in that particular religion. Unfortunately, many people mistake these clauses of religious freedom, and the results we see is transformed to illicit activities. Religious freedom clearly defines that people can demonstrate their religious sentiments without causing a threat to the other existing religious organisations.

So, as teachers, it is your duty to guide the young minds so that they are able to practice their faith, religion as well as at the same time be respectable towards other religious activities. Children are much more aware about the world, thanks to social media and internet. Naturally, their young brains will formulate questions after seeing the activities outside. Your primary goal is to handle those questions and answer them cautiously but truthfully. Remember, avoiding those questions will not only give rise to negative feelings about religions, but also generate a lot of misinformation regarding that particular subject. You, teachers, are given the major responsibilities for bringing about the future of the world, by nurturing those young minds from the nascent stage. Let’s say, a student asks,” is it really necessary to go to weekly prayer call? Can we not practice the same things at home?” your aim will be to cater to that question expertly and maturely, without avoiding the question, or by dismissing the thoughts altogether. Always remember that through healthy discussions, it is possible to remove prejudices and stigma from the concept of “religion”. Any kind of religious questions which had brought about a huge curiosity in the young person’s mind, should be answered plainly, without drawing confusion or negative feeling towards the said religion or any other religions.

Let us now look at what are the different benefits of educating religion:

1. It helps broaden the perspective of students regarding religion and also increases tolerance towards the same.

2. It helps brings students of many faith together, so that they are bale to share their beliefs, their activities, their stories, etc., about religion and make each other comfortable.

3. The weekly prayer call for Christian students cam be arranged so that you can debunk of many prejudices and stigmas against that religion. Also you can engage students into other friendly religious activities of multiple religions, so that the students are not prejudiced against them.

4. By educating the students about religion, you can show them that they are not entitled or forced to follow one particular religion, or even any religion. Teaching them about religion helps them understand, that it is a form of method, where people follow to reach the Higher Power and attain enlightenment.

5. These weekly prayer call or meetings in general, help the students to know more about sacred texts and their preaching, which is actually about the noble way that one may follow while walking the path of life.