Denominational Christianity is woven into the fabric of education in Northern Ireland (NI). Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican and Methodist Churches, all Christian, are embedded in the framework determining how education is administered and delivered. This blog post examines the extent to which religion is intertwined in NI education, thereby arguably supporting the separation of Catholic/Irish and Protestant/British pupils in the schooling system.

Census results in NI show an increasingly diverse, multi-faith society. A century ago, 95 per cent of the population were affiliated to the four denominations; but, today, over a quarter of the population are not. Given the demographic reconfiguration that has taken place over the past century is it now time to ask:

• How appropriate is it for a small number of Christian denominations to have the influence that they do?
• Who should determine the content of the Religious Education (RE) curriculum – Christian clerics or educationalists – and how should it be inspected?
• Should RE in schools promulgate a particular theological worldview or should it be aimed at enhancing pupils’ understanding of others’ perspectives and supporting them through an exploration of morality and ethics in a complex and rapidly changing world?

In July 2022, the High Court in Belfast ruled that the exclusively Christian orientation of the RE curriculum and the requirement that all state-funded schools in NI must provide a daily act of collective worship was in breach of human rights legislation (BBC, 2022). Schools are in a dilemma – legally required to deliver an RE curriculum that has been ruled to be unlawful. In his ruling, the judge side-stepped the issue of how this should be resolved and (at the time of writing) schools are still caught in this paradox.

‘Schools are in a dilemma – legally required to deliver an RE curriculum that has been ruled to be unlawful.’

The influence of churches starts at the very top. NI has an arm’s length governmental body, the Education Authority (EA), that is responsible for ensuring efficient and effective provision of school-level education. The EA board has legally assigned places for these four Christian denominations – no other faiths are entitled to representation.

The day-to-day running of each school in NI is overseen by Boards of Governors and their composition varies according to sector and size, specified in legislation. One-third of governors appointed to state-controlled schools represent the interests of the three Protestant churches. The Boards of Catholic Maintained schools include a similar proportion of Catholic church-approved governors. These are not nominal positions. Governors set and maintain their school’s ethos and have a legal duty to ensure that the school makes provision for Religious Education (RE). They also oversee the appointment of staff. While legislation has recently been introduced to prohibit governors from using religion as a factor when appointing teachers, even with this legal protection Catholic primary and nursery schools require any teachers seeking employment to have attained a certificate endorsed by the Catholic Bishops.

‘Governors set and maintain their school’s ethos and have a legal duty to ensure that the school makes provision for Religious Education (RE).’

The responsibility for devising the RE curriculum currently lies with the Churches’ Religious Education Working Group. This group is exclusively Christian, with members drawn from the four denominations. Unsurprisingly, RE assumes a Christian perspective and places Bible teaching at its core, stating, for example, that ‘Pupils should develop an awareness, knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the key Christian teachings … and develop an ability to interpret and relate the Bible to life’. A revision was introduced in 2007 to permit the study of ‘any two world religions’ at age 11–14 in order that pupils might ‘develop knowledge of and sensitivity towards … other religions’. But exploring the differences in Catholic and Protestant beliefs and practices is reserved for those over 16 who study RE. Additionally, every grant-aided school in NI is required to provide a daily act of collective worship.

Parents have a right to withdraw their children from collective worship and/or RE classes, but the ‘alternative provision’ currently offered to these pupils is often inadequate (NSS, 2023) –  for example non-Christian pupils left sitting in the corridor. Furthermore, the statutory Education and Training Inspectorate does not inspect RE (unless specifically invited to do so); this is left to ministers of religion. There is no systematic, quality control mechanism in place to benchmark and assess the teaching of RE.

As explained in the Editorial to this special issue, the aim of these blog posts is to stimulate debate. It is hoped that this post will encourage readers to consider responses to the questions raised above which highlight the complex ways in which religion is intertwined in Northern Ireland’s education system.

References

BBC News. (2022, July 5). Christian-focused RE in Northern Ireland primary schools ‘unlawful’.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-62053430

National Secular Society [NSS]. (2023). Reports: Rights of children in NI undermined by religion. https://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2023/01/reports-rights-of-children-in-ni-undermined-by-religion