from Religion Media Centre
The UK Supreme Court has ruled that Northern Ireland’s Christian-focused religious education is unlawful, saying it is not taught in an “objective, critical and pluralistic manner” and therefore amounts to indoctrination.
The case was brought by a girl and her father, who challenged the RE curriculum and collective worship after she sat down for a meal at home and said grace, which she had learned at school.
The court found that withdrawing her from lessons would have stigmatised her and breached her human rights. Northern Ireland’s RE syllabus, written by the main Christian churches in 2007, centres on Christianity.
The ruling leaves open what reforms will follow. An independent review has already urged a rethink, and a new Queen’s University project is testing opinion and exploring alternatives. It found that public opinion is divided, but most support teaching a range of worldviews. The court stressed it is not calling for RE to be removed from schools, but it prompted the National Secular Society to call for an end to collective worship. DUP leaders and a Protestant group vowed to continue standing up for the Christian ethcs of schools and the Bishop of Derry, Donal McKeown, told the BBC he didn’t want it to be seen as a statement that religion should be banned from schools.
Read our report here