Religious teaching in publicly funded schools – a clash of educational ideologies

The Constitutional rights that were meant to protect Irish families from religious teaching in publicly funded schools are simply ignored, and have been undermined over the years. Not only do our children not have access to non denominational secular education but they don’t have access to education delivered in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner and without religious discrimination.

Catholic education is a specific ideology; it has its own rules and principles. Catholic education is based on the teachings of the Catholic Church in relation to the education of children. The same can be said of other faith schools. In addition Multi-denominational education or Interdenominational education are also ideologies.

In Ireland there are different patrons in relation to Multi-Denominational education.The ETBI has told us that any religious education in schools under their patronage is based on their Multi-Denominational status. Educate Together claim that their ethos is equality based. Steiner schools also have a certain ideology in relation to the education of children.

Seeking an atheist education for your children is also an ideology. However, nobody, including Atheist Ireland, is seeking Atheist schools. Atheist Ireland would be as opposed to publicly funded schools promoting atheism as we are to publicly funded schools promoting religion.

Seeking secular education for your children in secular or non-denominational schools is also an ideology, but it is an ideology that can accommodate people with both religious and atheistic belief systems within it. There are no non denominational schools in Ireland with a specific secular ethos (Forum Report).

There is no Patron body seeking State aid for the funding of non denominational schools with a secular ethos. If there were the numbers in a particular area, there is no reason to believe that at this stage the state would refuse to fund it. In the past they did refuse to fund non-denominational schools.

In Ireland we have Catholic schools, other faith schools, Multi-Denominational schools and Interdenominational schools. Catholic schools make up the vast majority of schools in Ireland at primary and second level.

The Irish state decided to ‘provide for’ the education of the majority of children in Catholic schools (Art42.4 of the constitution). In other words the State has decided that a specific ideology in relation to the education of children is suitable education for children from all backgrounds, including atheists and others who seek non-denominational secular education for their children on the basis of conscience. It has also decided that Multi-denominational religious education is suitable education for children from these backgrounds.

Can you imagine if there was even one publicly funded school that promoted atheism and that children from Catholic backgrounds had no option but to attend? We would never hear the end of it. It would be seen rightly as breaching the rights of Catholic families and families of other religious faiths.

Patron Bodies claim that their specific ideology is inclusive and supports diversity. But all the various Patron bodies have rejected that their specific ideology should promote secularism. In fact the Catholic Church explicitly rejects secular education and education delivered in an objective manner as it believes it undermines the faith of Catholic students.

Constitution

The Constitution was meant to protect minorities in denominational schools. That may be one denomination or multi denominations or interdenominational schools. Interdenominational schools are known internationally as Christian schools.

Article 42.3.1 of the Irish Constitution states that:

“the State shall not oblige parents in violation of their conscience and lawful preference to send their children to schools established by the State, or to any particular type of school designated by the State”.

In practice, the State does oblige parents from atheist and secular backgrounds to send their children to Catholic, Multi-Denominational and Interdenominational schools. It just ignores Article 42.3.1 because no parents have the funds to challenge them in court.

It is obvious that there are issues in relation to conscience for families who have no choice but to send their children to Catholic, Multi-Denominational and Interdenominational schools, and particularly given that the courts have recognised that a particular ethos does influence children.

The UN has recognised this and recommended that the State set up non denominational schools and provide secular education.

Article 44.2.4 states that:

“Legislation providing State aid for schools shall not discriminate between schools under the management of different religious denominations, nor be such as to affect prejudicially the right of any child to attend a school receiving public money without attending religious instruction at that school.”

The Constitution singles out Religious Instruction (Teagasc Creidimh) for special protection. It envisages that some children will have no choice but to attend schools that have religious teaching. It is a condition of state aid that children not be present at religious teaching as that is their right. The Rules for National Schools, the Education Act 1998, the Intermediate Education Act 1878 and the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 all recognise the right to not attend or be present at religious teaching.

Successive governments have undermined this right. No supervision outside religious teaching is provided for students who seek to exercise this right, so students are left sitting in the class where religious teaching takes place. The Department of Education has said that the right is based on the understanding that it is Religious instruction according to the rights of a particular religion. Religious Instruction under Article 44.2.4 is also seen as referring to a specific class not simply any religious teaching throughout the school day.

The Department of Education has also decided that it can decide for parents what is or is not, suitable religious education for their children. The courts have never said any of this. The text of Article 44.2.4 simply gives students the right to attend any school in receipt of state aid and not attend any religious teaching that is against the conscience of their parents. This is a condition of State aid. Article 44.2.4 is a subsection of the right to freedom of conscience. The right has been undermined so that it would fit into particular ideologies that are funded by the state.

It seems to us that the State has elevated the rights of religious parents and particularly Catholic parents over those with non religious or secular convictions. Article 42.1 does not say that the State can do this. It states that:-

Article 42.1 states that:

“The State acknowledges that the primary and natural educator of the child is the Family and guarantees to respect the inalienable right and duty of parents to provide, according to their means, for the religious and moral, intellectual, physical and social education of their children.”

All parents have the same rights. However, we accept that there must be a balancing of rights. You would think that if the State adopted a particular ideology in relation to the education of all children, that it would ensure that the Articles in the Constitution that protect the rights of minorities in schools that promote this ideology would have statutory guidelines and the Department of Education would be proactive in ensuring that the Constitutional rights of minorities were protected and given practical application.

Human Rights Law

The Oireachtas has ratified various United Nations and Council of Europe Conventions on the basis that the rights guaranteed under the Conventions are not incompatible with the Constitution. Part of the right to education under the European Convention and the UN Conventions is that children have the right to an education that is delivered in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner. The UN uses the terms, neutral and objective. Children also have a right to access education without religious discrimination.

This is another ideology that the State have accepted and claims it guarantees. In the Louise O’Keffee case at the European Court, the state had argued that it wasn’t responsible for the protection of small children from sexual abuse in schools because the schools were private schools. The European Court found that under the European Convention the state cannot absolve itself from the responsibility to protect small children from sexual abuse in these schools. The exact same principle applies to the right to an objective, critical and pluralistic education free from discrimination under the European and UN Conventions.

In this Republic the Department of Education leaves it up to each ‘ideology’ that it funds to give practical application to the Constitutional and Human Rights of parents and their children in schools. Each Patron body that supports their particular ideology interprets these rights according to their own ethos and the state have put in place legislation that obliges Board of Management to uphold this ethos (S.15 Education Act 1998). The State obliges teachers under Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act to uphold this ethos. The State then claims that all these schools are inclusive and promote diversity while absolving itself of any responsibility.

Our Constitutional and Human rights have been undermined by successive governments. We simply do not have any choice in relation to the education of our children. We are left on a take it or leave it basis with denominational, multi-denominational or interdenominational education.

The Constitutional rights that were meant to protect families in publicly funded schools are simply ignored and have been undermined over the years. Not only do our children not have access to non denominational secular education but they don’t have access to education delivered in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner and without religious discrimination.