THE central role of religion in the overwhelming majority of Irish schools may be a breach of the human rights of some children.
And
allowing pupils from minority faiths or none to opt out of religious
instruction may not be enough to rectify the situation because the
Catholic Church's ethos permeates the day-to-day life of most schools, a
discussion paper has said.
The Government has been told it is time to address what place, if any, religion has in the classroom.
Ireland's
record on religion in schools will come under scrutiny next year during
a review by the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The Irish
Human Rights Commission (IHCR) issued a discussion paper over the
weekend, posing a number of questions as to whether the law and practice
in Ireland fully meets human rights standards.
"To put it
somewhat baldly, the core issue to be discussed concerns whether
religion has a place in the classroom and, if so, what role should it
play," IHCR president Maurice Manning said.
He said the Irish
position faced challenges under the European Convention on Human Rights,
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on
the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The questions raised by the
discussion paper included the rights of children in a rural setting who
have no option but to attend a religious-ethos school.
At primary
level, Catholic schools are required to devote two-and-a-half hours per
week to religious instruction, while it is two hours per week at
secondary level.
In the multi-denominational Educate Together
schools, the issue of religious instruction is regarded as a matter for
parents and, where it takes place, it is done outside of school hours.
Pupils
may take Religious Education as a subject in Junior and Leaving Cert
exams, but that involves a general study of world religions and beliefs
and does not involve an assessment of a student's personal faith or
commitment.
Conflicts
The IHCR paper notes
that provision is made for the right of parents to withdraw their
children from any instruction that conflicts with their own convictions.
However,
because of the way that religion might informally permeate the school
day in denominational schools, this right would not necessarily insulate
such pupils from receiving religious education informally, it stated.
Dr
Manning said the place of religion in the classroom was an issue with
which all countries were grappling, but Ireland was somewhat unique
internationally because religious orders had played a very prominent
role in Irish education.
Ireland has a system of almost entirely
denominational primary education, predominantly controlled by the
Catholic Church, which runs about 92pc of primary schools.
There are no
non-denominational schools, and just over 2pc of schools are
inter-denominational or multi-denominational.
While most people in
Ireland define themselves as belonging to the Roman Catholic Church or
Church of Ireland, a significant number now define themselves as being
of no belief or of Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu or other belief.
The
paper was launched at a conference held in association with the School
of Law at Trinity College Dublin, which kick-started a national
consultation process.
Dr Manning said after the consultation
process was complete, at the end of January, they would make
recommendations to the Government on the measures required for the State
to meet its human rights obligations in this area.
SIC: II/IE