Letter: Zoroastrians and atheists left out

Sir: So a large amount of time and money is to be spent by the Government in setting up a new syllabus for religious education ('The resurrection of religious education', 10 August). No doubt such a syllabus will as ever perpetuate the existing imbalance in the education of philosophy to our children by ignoring one philosophy that is ever more relevant to modern life - atheism.

In a largely secular society in which only a small proportion of people are actively engaged in a religion, it is important that children who are unconvinced by all the leading religions are not left in the unsatisfying position of 'don't knows' or worse - gathered up by the 'loony' fringe.

How many timorous agnostics, when confronted with a box entitled 'Religion?' on a hospital form, mumble, 'Well C of E, I suppose'? This is the legacy of decades of religious education and school assembly on the one side and scientific education and life experience on the other that has left us with adults who don't know what they think.

Let us now equip our children to make a fully informed choice.

Yours faithfully,

INGRID SIMS

Tunbridge Wells, Kent