“This decision is a watershed moment for educational rights in this jurisdiction.”
A landmark ruling at the UK Supreme Court has found that provision of religious education in Northern Ireland schools is “unlawful.”
The case was brought by a non-religious father (“G) and his daughter (JR87), and the original judgement in the High Court of Northern Ireland in 2022 was that “religious education and collective worship are not conveyed in an objective, critical, or pluralistic manner in Northern Ireland [schools].”
However, the Northern Ireland Department of Education appealed at the Court of Appeal last October. It ruled that while the RE curriculum was not objective, critical, or pluralistic, this was not sufficient to conclude there had been a breach of human rights law as this didn’t amount to indoctrination. The Court also ruled the right to withdraw was not stigmatising.
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The father and child appealed this decision to the Supreme Court, which has now ruled that a curriculum not being “objective, critical, or pluralistic” and its being “indoctrinating” are “two sides of the same coin.”
The Court also ruled that the right of withdrawal is clearly stigmatising in a context where no other children are withdrawn. Parents having a “reasonable apprehension” of such stigma is “sufficient” to mean they do not have to have actually withdrawn their children and found that stigma does indeed occur.
Phoenix Law, who represented the father and daughter, said overturning the ruling of the Court of Appeal restores “essential safeguards for children from non-religious, minority, or non-Christian backgrounds educated in Northern Ireland’s state-funded schools.”
The Supreme Court ruling found that teaching based on the core syllabus, as implemented in the school attended by JR87, “amounted to evangelism or proselytising, and therefore breached the rights of both the child and her parents.”
Additionally, the Court found that the Department of Education “failed in its duty to inspect or monitor religious education and collective worship to ensure compliance with human rights standards.”
Darragh Mackin, Solicitor for JR87 and her father, 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.
“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.”
There have been calls for the Department of Education to implement urgent reform, including to review the core syllabus, to ensure “pluralistic, age-appropriate, non-confessional teaching from the earliest stages of schooling.” Additionally, to establish effective oversight mechanisms, and provide schools with clear guidance.
Northern Ireland Humanists Coordinator Boyd Sleator commented: “This judgment is a historic win for the rights of children in Northern Ireland. The Supreme Court has concluded that the RE syllabus is ‘indoctrination’ and the right to withdraw from RE and mandatory collective worship is insufficient to deal with this.
‘This ruling should also prompt the governments in England, Scotland, and Wales to revisit the requirement for mandatory collective worship. We hope it is now repealed.”
The Department of Education has been contacted for comment.
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