The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth is preparing Ireland’s 5th/6th State Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. Atheist Ireland has made the following submission to the consultation on the draft State Report.
We are making this submission with regard to three aspects of the Draft State Report:
C. Civil Rights and Freedoms (Arts. 7, 8, 13–17), Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion:

“17. Please inform the Committee on the measures taken to ensure accessible options for
children to opt out of religious classes and access appropriate alternatives to such classes,
in accordance with the needs of children of minority faith or non-faith backgrounds.”

G. Basic health and welfare (Arts. 6, 18 (3), 24, 26, 27 (1)–(3) and 33):

“25(c) Ensure comprehensive, age-appropriate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights, including information on family planning, contraceptives and the risks related to early pregnancies, as well as the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.”

H. Education, leisure and cultural activities (Arts. 28 – 31):

“28(b) Assess the impact of the 2018 Education (Admission to Schools) Act in ensuring children’s right to education without discrimination, including in cases where admission can be denied on religious grounds;
28(c) Increase the availability of non-denominational and multi-denominational schools.”

Contents

1. Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion
The relevant section with regard to C. Civil rights and freedoms (arts. 7, 8 and 13–17), under Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion, appears on page 34 of the Department’s draft report as follows:

“Question 17
Please inform the Committee on the measures taken to ensure accessible options for
children to opt out of religious classes and access appropriate alternatives to such classes,
in accordance with the needs of children of minority faith or non-faith backgrounds.”

1.1 Primary level
The State response says:

“Responsibility for providing a programme of religious education rests with the patron bodies of individual schools and not the State. There are a diverse number of patrons’ programmes within the primary school system. Some are denominational or religious, emphasising the place of children’s faith, spiritual and moral development in their lives. Others foster understanding of ethics and values.”

At primary level there is no option to access another subject if students exercise their Constitutional right to ‘not attend’ religious instruction, or their right under the Constitution as reflected in the Education Act to ‘not attend’ any subject that is contrary to their or their parents’ conscience, which includes religious education classes however they are classified.
Their Constitutional right to ‘not attend’ is not protected and enforced by the State notwithstanding the fact that the funding of schools is conditional on this right. Schools provide no supervision outside the religious instruction class and never provide another subject. Students are left sitting in the class where religious instruction takes place.
The Constitution envisages students attending publicly funded schools while having a right to ‘not attend’ religious instruction. Every word in the Constitution has meaning and Article 44.2.4 does not state that students need ‘not participate’ in religious instruction. It clearly states ‘without attending religious instruction.’
In addition the Primary School Curriculum supports the integration of subjects. Religious instruction developed by various Patron bodies is integrated into all subjects under the curriculum and no opt out is possible from this teaching. Parents are never informed that this is happening and it is supported by State funding and State policy.
The 1999 Primary school curriculum framework has enabled Patron bodies, schools and teachers to promote the spiritual education of students by evangelising them into a religious way of life. It discriminates against non-religious minorities. It does not take on board the positive right of non-religious minorities under Article 42.1 in relation to the education of their children. This is also reflected in Section 15-2(b) of the Education Act 1998.
The 1999 Primary School Curriculum focuses on the ‘spiritual dimension’ of life in relation to the promotion of religion and religious values. It only recognises and caters for the right of individuals to choose the particular form of religious expression that reflects the spiritual aspirations that he or she seeks. It does not take into account the positive right of atheists, secularists, humanists and the non-religious to express their own aspirations through values that are not based on a religious understanding of the world. Read more…

Calling concerned teachers