The religious education syllabus in Northern Ireland is to be reformed in the wake of a UK supreme court judgment which found the exclusively Christian teaching and collective worship in schools was unlawful.
Last week, the court upheld a 2022 ruling by the High Court in Belfast that religious education and Christian worship were not conveyed in an “objective, critical and pluralistic manner” and therefore breached the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
A child, known as JR87, and her father sought a judicial review after she took part in non-denominational Christian religious education and collective worship as part of the curriculum at a controlled primary school – a common form of state-funded school – in Belfast.
Her parents “did not wish her to be taught that Christianity was an absolute truth” and wrote to the school in 2019 voicing concerns that their daughter’s education “did not appear to conform with their own religious and philosophical convictions”.
RM Block
In a letter to schools regarding the supreme court ruling, which has been seen by The Irish Times, the North’s Minister for Education Paul Givan said his department was “already reviewing the overall school curriculum for the first time in almost 20 years” and it was “therefore timely to reform the RE syllabus”.
“I will set out the process for reforming the RE syllabus over the coming weeks,” the DUP MLA said, adding that the Department has sought further legal advice “to understand the full implications of the judgment” and would issue “comprehensive guidance” to schools.
“Further consideration” would be required regarding acts of collective worship, the Minister said.
Parents have the right to withdraw their child from religious education or collective worship in Northern Ireland schools, but the supreme court found the withdrawal mechanisms insufficient.
“We will explore options to ensure the right to withdrawal is effective, standardised and legally compliant,” Mr Givan said.
“This is a complex judgment that cannot be ignored, but it is important to fully understand the issues before acting,” he said.
In his letter, the Minister emphasised the court “did not strike down the existing legislation” and religious education and collective worship “continue to be a legal requirement in schools ... there is a legal obligation that they must continue”.
Under this law, he said, “the school day in every publicly-funded school must include collective worship” and “controlled schools must provide undenominational religious education based on the Holy Scriptures.”
The case, Mr Givan said, “is not about whether Christianity should be the main or primary faith that pupils learn about in schools in Northern Ireland.
“Historically and today, Christianity is the main religion in Northern Ireland”, he said, adding that “the court has explained that ‘it is within the Department’s margin of appreciation in planning and setting the curriculum for the greater part of religious education to focus on knowledge of Christianity’ ”.
The chair of the Stormont Education Committee, the Alliance Party MLA Nick Mathison, said the legislation should be reviewed “to ensure it was compliant with the judgment”.
