Debate over choice of religious education could be informed by teaching of Irish [IrishTimes]
- Published: 19 April 2011
RITE AND REASON: Faith can be expressed in schools without friction for those pupils exempt from religion
THE VAST majority (more than 90 per cent) of Irish primary or national schools are under denominational patronage. Whether State support for religiously-affiliated schools is desirable from civic and educational perspectives, and whether this support will prove financially realistic, are large issues. But we do not operate from a clean slate – we are where we are in respect of the control and management of schools.
Choice of schools is a very vexed issue and there is a knot of confusion surrounding it.
There is a distinction to be observed between freedom and rights – in particular between the right to education and the right to a particular kind of school.
Children in Ireland have a right to education and parents have the freedom to send their children to a school of their choice. But this does not mean that parents have a right to have a particular kind of school.
The following analogy might make this clear. Citizens have both a right and a freedom to get married and the State has an obligation to respect this right and this freedom. But the State does not have an obligation to find partners for people.
This means that some parents may end up sending their children to a confessional school that supports an ethos to which they do not subscribe. These parents have a right to withdraw their children from lessons in religion and from sacramental preparation. But they do not have a right to expect the schools to protect them from any exposure to religion.
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