The short answer to the title question is … NO, not really…but also, in a way, YES!
RE has come a long way since the time of the England Wales 1944 Education Act, where Religious Instruction was the only compulsory subject on the school curriculum.
Teaching children to be moral was implied, even in the name – we instruct children in the ways of what is right and what is wrong, under the explicit umbrella of Christianity. Teaching religion in schools was considered an important medium for teaching children right and wrong.
RE is not tutor time, or cultural appreciation, or PSHE or citizenship education, or the sole medium for schools to deliver SMSC or cross curricular ideas and I would argue that helping children to make moral and ethical decisions comes under these banners as much, if not more, than in in RE.
Yet, it is more complex than that. RE does contributes to students’ moral and ethical decision making. An important part of studying RE includes developing an understanding of how we make moral and ethical decisions and may help them deepen their own understanding of moral and ethical issues through the appreciation of the views of others.