Schools - religious observance and religious education: consultation analysis

1. Introduction

This report

This report presents the independent analysis of responses to the Scottish Government consultation on proposals to amend the legislation on religious observance (RO) and religious and moral education (RME) in schools to support alignment with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

RO and RME

RME is a curriculum area identified in Curriculum for Excellence. The subject includes the two distinct strands: non-denominational RME and Religious Education in Roman Catholic schools (RERC). Both RME and RERC aim to support pupils in understanding the diversity of faiths, beliefs, and perspectives around them.

RME (non-denominational) involves exploring beliefs, values and issues and practices and traditions through the context of Christianity, world religions selected for study, and belief groups independent of religion. RERC includes the study of Catholic Christianity alongside other Christian traditions, as well as other world religions, including beliefs, values and issues, practices, and traditions.

RO - sometimes also called ‘collective worship’ or ‘time for reflection’ in schools - promotes the spiritual development of pupils and expresses and celebrates the shared values of the school community. RO might be woven throughout the school day, or take the form of specific assemblies, and sometimes includes parents and community representatives from faith and non-faith backgrounds.

Background

The consultation sought views on proposed changes to section 9 (conscience clause) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 (‘the 1980 Act’) which specifies that:

“Every public school (and every grant-aided school) shall be open to pupils of all denominations, and any pupil may be withdrawn by his parents from any instruction in religious subjects and from any religious observance in any such school; and no pupil shall in any such school be placed at any disadvantage with respect to the secular instruction given therein by reason of the denomination to which such pupil or his parents belong, or by reason of his being withdrawn from any instruction in religious subjects”.

This legislation gives parents the right to withdraw their child from RO and/or RME in publicly funded schools in Scotland – a right that has existed in some form since 1872. The current legislation does not include any requirement to consider the views of the child in question, no matter their age, maturity, or personal beliefs.

Scottish Government guidance on RO (updated in March 2017) sets out that schools should ensure pupils' views are considered in discussions regarding their school experience, and that RO in schools must be sensitive to individual spiritual needs and beliefs, whether these come from a faith or non-faith perspective, while being equally sensitive to Scotland’s longstanding religious traditions and origins, including Christianity.

The proposed changes to section 9 of the 1980 Act, as set out in the consultation paper, aim to support the alignment of Scottish legislation with the UNCRC in its international form by requiring that due weight is given to children and young people’s views when parents are exercising their right to withdraw their child from RO/RME. This would effectively align legislation with the existing Scottish Government guidance on RO in relation to considering pupils’ views.

What the consultation sought views on and next steps

The consultation paper set out the proposed legislative changes and sought views on topic areas such as the positive and negative implications of the proposed changes and insights into how the right to withdraw a pupil from RO and RME currently works in practice.

Only three responses were received directly from pupils. To address this, the Scottish Government is also undertaking direct engagement with children and young people, including with members of the Scottish Youth Parliament.

Taken together, these views have informed the Scottish Government’s finalisation of the draft legislation brought forward to the Scottish Parliament and will also inform accompanying support and guidance for implementation.

Remainder of this consultation analysis report

The remainder of this report is structured in line with the questions asked within the consultation paper. It also provides an overview of the consultation methodology, responses, analysis, and challenges.