TheTexas education board has approved a new statewide reading list that, for the first time, will make passages from the Bible required reading for more than 5 million public school students.

Under the new initiative, Bible stories will become mandatory reading for millions of public school students in addition to a more standard collection of books, renewing debate over growing efforts in the US to increase the role of religion in classrooms.

The rollout will be staggered, starting with elementary school students in 2030.

Critics say the new reading requirements, which also include Dickens and Shakespeare, infringe on religious freedoms and lack diversity.

The Republican-controlled State Board of Education approved the measure in a 9-5 vote with one Republican joining Democrats to vote against it.

Supporters say schoolchildren ought to learn about Judeo-Christian traditions that they argue were essential to the nation’s founding.

The new list includes English literature classics such as Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations and William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.

The mandatory religious texts that have drawn fierce opposition from education and civil liberties groups.

Others also raised concerns that the mandate risks undermining the independence of teachers to steer their classes.

Last year, Texas became the largest US state to require classrooms to display the Ten Commandments – biblical laws that some Christians believe God set for people.

In April, a federal appeals court upheld the law mandating the display after a legal challenge.