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Welsh Government rules parents no longer able to withdraw children from religious education

Welsh Government rules parents no longer able to withdraw children from religious education

Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/wales-poised-to-scrap-teaching-of-religious-education-in-schools-10435880.html

Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/wales-poised-to-scrap-teaching-of-religious-education-in-schools-10435880.html

In January, the Welsh Government ruled that parents in Wales will no longer be able to withdraw their children from learning religious education (RE). Kirsty Williams, education minister in Wales, said “it has always been an anomaly that children could be prevented from attending certain subjects,” and the new curriculum – to take effect in September 2022 – will be LGTB+ inclusive.

The Independent notes that according to a consultation by the government earlier in 2019, more than 88.7% of the respondents said they wanted parents’ right to withdraw children from lessons to be retained. Kathy Riddick, coordinator of Wales Humanists, welcomed the change to include different religions and humanisms in RE, but presented “grave concerns about parents losing their right to withdraw their children from RE in faith schools where they could be subjected to a heavy-handed religious instruction that enforces a particular faith-based perspective.”

The announcement of the new compulsory curriculum has provoked conversation in relation to the enforcement of human rights. Sir Malcolm Evans, a member of the Commission on Religious Education and Professor of Law at Bristol University, said removing the opt-out option for religious classes could breach human rights. Under Article 2 Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), parents have the right to have their children educated in line with “their own religious and philosophical convictions,” which also includes non-religious belief. Additionally, Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) pertains to the “right to respect private and family life, his home and his correspondence,” and Article 9 HRA relates to the “freedom of thought, conscience and religion.” These provisions could form a foundation for the legal challenges the Welsh Government could face with the commencement of the new curriculum. While the Welsh Government claimed that the proposed legislative framework and guidance would be compatible with the rights protected by the HRA, it could be problematic for students and parents who find it impossible to reconcile their beliefs with the content being compulsorily taught to them. Riddick also expressed that “the new law seriously risks exposing pupils to unlawful indoctrination.”

According to Sir Malcolm, the Welsh Government will be open to legal challenges unless they could be “absolutely sure” the RE lessons are “sufficiently inclusive, plural, critical and objective.” In a similar vein, Humanists UK also opposed to the scraping of the opt-out system because they fear faith schools will not be able to provide a sufficiently broad approach to RE. A similar argument could be used for schools that lack diversity or relevant competence amongst the teaching faculty to ensure that their students are receiving a non-biased RE education. It appears that the Welsh Government has to present a Convention-compatible response, which would therefore need to involve details such as the content that will be studied, the manner that it will be taught in, and the way in which the Government will make sure that such procedures will be adhered to.

Sources:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/sex-education-class-school-wales-lgbt-religious-studies-parents-lessons-a9296026.html

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/sex-education-classes-school-parents-lessons-wales-lgbt-religious-a9138246.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-51407327?intlink_from_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fpolitics&link_location=live-reporting-story&fbclid=IwAR3TIQKoswIZGnOXS88aa8eIgnw_SEizw5ZFZs2_muPfv-vbE7YK6_UZqC8

 

 

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