The Church of England has launched a fierce attack on the government, describing limited resources devoted to training religious education teachers as a scandal that is affecting "an essential part" of every child's studies.

In an outburst that reflects the church's deepening unease at the government's perceived lack of support for the teaching of RE, it singled out the education secretary, Michael Gove, for implicit criticism, calling on him to work with religious leaders to improve the level of teaching in what is a core subject in the national curriculum.

The criticism comes as a damning Ofsted report, published today, finds that more than half of all schools have been failing pupils in their religious education, a subject that the watchdog claims is increasingly important "in an ever more globalised and multicultural 21st century" because of the way it promotes respect and empathy.

The Ofsted report cites a litany of failures in the way RE is taught, including low standards, weak teaching and a confused sense of what the subject is about. It said it found good or outstanding knowledge of the tenets of Christianity in only five of the 30 primary schools it visited.

The Church of England, which has long campaigned for religious education to be taken more seriously by government, said it was not surprised by the report's findings.

"It is no comfort to us that Ofsted's detailed report on the state of religious education in this country's schools confirms all the messages we have been giving the secretary of state over the last two years," said the Rev Jan Ainsworth, the Church's chief education officer.

"The report places the blame for poor standards squarely on government policy. "In particular, the removal of support and squeeze on places for training RE teachers is a scandal and will take years to reverse. RE is still a core curriculum in church schools, and we repeat our offer to Mr Gove to work with him."

Ofsted has called on Gove to push for an improvement in current GCSE examinations for the subject and in the supply and training of religious education teachers.

"Religious education in schools matters," said Michael Cladingbowl, Ofsted's director of schools. "It develops children's understanding of belief and the world in which we live. At its best, it encourages children and young people to extend their natural curiosity and prepares them for life in modern society.

"Too often we found religious education lessons being squeezed out by other subjects and children and young people leaving school with little knowledge or understanding of different religions. This just isn't good enough when religion and belief are playing such a profound part in today's world. Pupils deserve much better."

The findings are likely to make difficult reading for Gove, who has previously admitted to not doing enough to help promote the subject. Speaking at a Church of England seminar this year, he said the fact that RE was protected as a core subject had led him to focus on other subjects.

"I think RE has suffered as a result of my belief that the protection it had in the curriculum was sufficient, and I don't think that I've done enough," he explained.

An inquiry by the all-party parliamentary group on RE earlier this year found that more than half of those teaching it in primary schools had no qualifications in the subject. It found the subject was often relegated to teaching assistants, who received little support or training.

The inquiry also found there had been a "dramatic" reduction in support for RE teachers as a result of local funding cuts and the expansion of the government's academies programme.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Education declined to comment.