The Northern Ireland Executive has announced a review of the core Religious Education (RE) syllabus, following a Supreme Court ruling that current RE arrangements breach human rights.
In November, the UK Supreme Court unanimously allowed the appeal in the case of JR87 – a daughter and father from Belfast who argued Christian-based RE and collective worship in Northern Ireland’s schools are incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The Court found the current RE syllabus promotes faith development in a manner that amounts to indoctrination. This included encouraging children to accept ideas such as creation being “the gift of God” as “absolute truths”, according to the review.
In a statement to the NI Assembly yesterday, Minister of Education Paul Givan said it was “necessary” to review the core syllabus in light of the judgment, in order to ensure knowledge is “conveyed in an objective, critical, and pluralistic manner”.
Christianity will remain “central” to the revised syllabus, Givan said, due to the “reality of Northern Ireland’s historical, cultural and legal context”.
As part of the review, experienced primary school teachers and RE subject specialists can apply to join the drafting group. Previously, the syllabus was drafted solely by representatives of NI four main churches.
Givan said the review process would involve “extensive engagement with a consultative group of the main churches”.
A consultation on the draft syllabus is expected in early June.
On collective worship, Givan said it was “neither desirable nor easily achievable to bring about fundamental changes”, and that it was therefore necessary to ensure the right of withdrawal is “consistent with all necessary requirements”.
The law in NI compels state-funded schools to “include collective worship whether in one or more than one assembly” every day. The right to withdraw children from collective worship is available to parents, although not to pupils.
In JR87, the Supreme Court found that the right of withdrawal does not constitute a sufficient protection against indoctrination if it is capable creating an undue burden, and that parents’ concerns about withdrawing their daughter from RE and collective worship were valid.
Givan said schools would be required to inform parents regarding the right of withdrawal when their child is admitted and on annual basis, and that withdrawal must be “straightforward, stigma-free and supported”. There are no plans to grant pupils an independent right of withdrawal.
NSS: NI Executive attempting “absolute bare minimum on collective worship”
NSS spokesperson Jack Rivington said: “The Supreme Court ruling made crystal clear that education must be objective, critical, and pluralistic, or else cross the line into indoctrination.
“Mandatory acts of religious worship fundamentally exceed this threshold. But instead of prioritising children’s rights, the NI Executive is trying to get away with the bare minimum. But retaining collective worship laws, and therefore forcing prayer on children, can never be compatible with child rights.
“The failure to remove collective worship laws overshadows the review’s welcome emphasis on a more balanced RE syllabus. It remains to be seen the degree to which religious interests will be allowed to control its outcome.”