Church leaders are calling for the introduction of a national syllabus in religious education as fears grow that many children are unable to understand even the basic tenants of Christianity.

The Church of England, the Methodist Church and the Free Churches have written to Charles Clarke, the Education Secretary, calling for an end to the current system of allowing local councils to determine what religion is taught in schools.

They want to replace the system of local autonomy, which has produced up to 150 different curriculums, with one syllabus that would cover all six main faiths but ensure that the importance of Christianity in national life was properly reflected.

The letter to Mr Clarke is signed by the Rt Rev Dr Kenneth Stevenson, the Bishop of Portsmouth and the chairman of the Church of England Board of Education. It is written on behalf of the Methodist and Free Churches and has the support of the Roman Catholic Church. No other faith group has been consulted on the contents of the letter.

As the law stands, Christianity is supposed to be at the heart of any RE syllabus. However, some Church leaders feel that the system of local control means that Christianity could have lost ground to other faiths. Furthermore, standards are being undermined by the lack of specialist training for RE teachers.

RE syllabuses are currently written by local council advisory committees on religious education, made up of councillors, teachers, the Churches and other faith groups. Local traditions and the variety of faith communities have led to differences in the style, content and quality of lessons.

In the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Hackney, for instance, Islam is taught throughout school. In comparison, the Lincolnshire syllabus teaches Christianity and Judaism to younger children and moves on to other religions later in primary school. In Devon, Christianity and Judaism is taught in primary school. Hinduism is introduced at 11 and Islam, Sikhism and Buddhism are taught mostly in secondary schools.

Leicester's new local syllabus includes the teaching of Jainism, because there is a Jain community in the city. In Derbyshire, more time is given to Sikhism at ages 12 to 14 because of a large Sikh population in Derby.

Poor teaching and differences in syllabuses are leaving children with patchy knowledge, according to a recent survey by Exeter University. It found that half of 12-year-olds were so ignorant of basic Christian teaching that they were unaware that Easter celebrates the Resurrection of Christ.

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has recommended to ministers that a framework for RE should be devised which would guide what the local committees do. However, Church leaders claim that a framework would only be advisory and could be ignored. Instead, they want the Government to scrap local syllabuses and replace them with a national one that could be legally enforced.

Under the Church of England plan, the RE curriculum would be decided by a national committee made up of representatives of the Churches and faith communities, teachers, advisers and Government. Canon John Hall, the general secretary of the Church of England's Board of Education, said: "We want to ensure that RE has its proper place in schools and is being properly taught."

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