Why is religious studies an important subject?

Over the years, it has become clear that Religious Studies (RS/RE) is becoming less appreciated. Today, the UK seems to be more and more secularised, and I have often seen facebook, twitter, a variety of memes and more mock religion. Unfortunately, with this comes an amount of ignorance and insult to those who do believe in a deity; people are scrutinised for putting their faith in God and, often in the case of Islam, victimised for the extremist minority who belong to their faith. I believe that the lack of attention paid to RS is unhelpful in this.

My school only offered half a GCSE in RS, which was then paired with a half GCSE in Citizenship. However, the focus throughout the years leading up to this point was a healthy mixture of religions - Christianity (and the different denominations), Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and many more. The focus for GCSE was predominantly Christianity and Islam and our exam focused on comparing our own views to the views of a Christian or Muslim when facing issues such as euthanasia and the death penalty. The course was interesting and made way for debate, discussion and exploration. People of different belief systems in the classroom were encouraged to speak and express their views without fear. I remember enjoying the class and leaving with a sense of understanding for those with different customs to my own. I remember  going to a shop in the old part of my town and being given free posters that displayed a variety of gods from Hinduism, which I excitedly brought into school and donated to our RS department.

I then moved to a sixth form and discovered that this was not the standard religious education everyone was receiving in the UK. One girl expressed her excitement that her A Level RS course was going to teach her about "other religions". When I asked her what religions she had learned at secondary level, the response was "oh, just Christianity really". I was surprised.
"Why?" I asked "Didn't you learn about Islam at least?" She shook her head. She had gone to a Catholic School. Another boy chipped in, saying that Islam and Christianity were the only religions he had studied. I was shocked that Sikhism, Buddhism, Hinduism and so many more that I had studied were left from their criteria.

Now, RS is slowly being pushed out of the curriculum. People openly admit that they "Don't see the point" and that saddens me. I see it as one of the more important subjects at primary and secondary level. I believe that a healthy mix of religions, as well as an atheist and agnostic point of view should be taught throughout the education system. The UK is vastly multicultural, but it also struggles with issues to do with racism. The fact is, most people who make racist or anti-religious comments just aren't aware of the culture, customs and faiths of others and that is why RS is so important in our younger years. It teaches the younger generations about people's differences, their standpoints on various issues and leads as an example to accept and respect these views. More so, RS teaches above the media, which is often saturated with terrorism and religious warfare. If RS isn't in place to offer an alternative viewpoint, and to provide an understanding of extremism in religions, then how can the government, and the UK as a whole, expect people to accept religion and the customs of others? RS is so very important, and I can only hope that it remains on the school curriculum for a very long time.