The Ministry of Education reduced the lessons from two to one hour per week and placed it on the first or last hour of the school day; in addition, the grades are no longer part of the overall grade.
Concern also sparked the introduction of the new school subject health education.
The subject is intended to elucidate methods of contraception, fertility technologies and risks associated with sexuality. These include STDs, HIV and AIDS – forms of sexual violence are also discussed.
Despite multiple criticisms, the bishops reaffirmed the parents' right to continue to freely decide whether their child participates in the lessons. In recent months, however, they had called on parents not to agree to participation.
Dispute between government and church
Meanwhile, the Education Commission adopted a new curriculum for Catholic religious education.
The main objective is to provide reliable and systematic knowledge of Catholicism and Christianity in general.
Students should also develop the necessary skills to understand, interpret and apply these contents to current challenges.
The background to the criticism is the dispute between the bishops and the centre-left government over the halving of religious hours in schools.
At the beginning of July last year, the Constitutional Court declared the government’s decided reduction in religious education from two to one hour per week to be unconstitutional.
Education Minister Barbara Nowacka, however, dismissed the ruling after parliament denied legitimacy to the Constitutional Court in March 2024. The Church criticized it.