The UK Supreme Court has ruled that Christian-focused religious education and collective worship in Northern Ireland schools do not meet essential human rights standards.
In a unanimous decision issued on Wednesday, the court found that the structure of religious education does not satisfy the requirement for instruction to be objective, critical, and pluralistic, as guaranteed under Article 2 of Protocol 1 and Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, reports Breaking News.
The Supreme Court fully upheld the appeal of an unnamed father and daughter from Northern Ireland, overturning a prior ruling by the Court of Appeal.
In 2022, the High Court in Belfast determined that Christian-centred RE in Northern Ireland’s primary schools was unlawful, though the Department of Education (DE) later succeeded in challenging that ruling, reports Breaking News.
Wednesday’s judgment rejected the Department’s cross-appeal and reinstated protections for pupils from non-religious, minority, or non-Christian communities attending state-funded schools.
Darragh Mackin, solicitor for the father and daughter, said: “This decision is a watershed moment for educational rights in this jurisdiction. The Supreme Court has confirmed that all children are entitled to an education that respects their freedom of thought, conscience, and religion,” reports Breaking News.
“The judgment makes clear that the State cannot rely on withdrawal mechanisms to justify religious instruction. Schools must not place children in the impossible position of being singled out or stigmatised simply because their families do not share the religious worldview embedded in the curriculum”, reports Breaking News.
The Supreme Court’s ruling stated that the existing core RE syllabus—created by representatives of the four main Christian churches and mandatory across all grant-aided schools—is not delivered in a way that is objective, critical, or pluralistic, reports Breaking News.
It further concluded that the instruction provided at the school the girl attended amounted to evangelism or proselytisation, infringing the rights of both the student and her parents.
The court added that the statutory option to withdraw a child from RE and collective worship does not adequately address these violations, as using it imposes an “undue burden” on parents and risks significant stigmatisation for children, reports Breaking News.
It also found that the Department of Education did not meet its responsibility to monitor or inspect religious education and collective worship to ensure they met human rights requirements.
The court concluded that the core curriculum must be overhauled, that the Department of Education must introduce effective oversight and inspection systems, and that schools must be given clear guidance on providing lawful, rights-compliant religious education that reflects the diversity of modern Northern Ireland, reports Breaking News.
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