Questions from Labour MSP Carol Mochan, SNP’s Emma Roddick, and Greens’ Patrick Harvie, show that Scottish Government’s current plans on religious observance are wholly inadequate. Meanwhile, our CEO tells The Scotsman the government is “scared of upsetting the church”.
Questioning compulsory religious observance
Over the past week, three MSPs have put questions to Scottish Government criticising compulsory religious observance in Scottish schools. Labour’s Carol Mochan and the SNP’s Emma Roddick pointed out that the government’s plans to alter minor elements of religious observance rules failed to respect children’s rights, as they did not offer the right to opt out of religious observance. Green MSP Patrick Harvie asked Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth MSP if she would respect the views of young people who want to make choices for themselves.
Meanwhile, our CEO Fraser Sutherland has told The Scotsman in an exclusive interview that government are not acting on the matter because they’re “scared of upsetting the church”.
A voice but no choice
Currently, schools in Scotland are required to provide religious observance (worship) on a “sufficiently frequent” basis. This is mostly delivered by Church of Scotland clergy. Parents and guardians have the right to withdraw their children from religious observance, but pupils cannot opt themselves out.
In November, the Scottish government announced a new bill on religious observance. This would place in law school pupils’ rights to share their views on religious observance. But it does not propose allowing children and young people to make up their own mind on whether to attend religious observance.
Criticism of current rules
The lack of opt-out rights for pupils in Scotland has been repeatedly criticised by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. The children’s rights charity Together and the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland also oppose the current rules. In our response to a consultation on the bill, we told Scottish Government that the current system does not meet children’s right to be heard or their right to freedom of thought, religion or belief as defined by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
This is particularly problematic as the UNCRC was recently incorporated into Scots law. Therefore the government risks running afoul of legislation it has only just passed. Discussion at Holyrood over the past week shows that this issue now has cross-party attention. We hope Scottish Government will take this into account as it considers responses to this deeply flawed bill.
We have our say
Our CEO Fraser Sutherland said: “The Scottish government should consider whether it really wants to protect children’s rights as defined by the UN, or whether its new legislation is just window dressing. The government has been repeatedly told – by UN Committees, children’s rights charities, and even the Children and Young People’s Commissioner – that compulsory religious observance contravenes children’s rights. Is it going to listen now that politicians in the chamber are adding their voice to the chorus?”
In an exclusive interview with The Scotsman on 6 March, Fraser added: “This is the first real test on the Government’s commitment to the UNCRC and if they don’t allow young people to make this decision about their school day, it is a poor commitment…. The Government doesn’t want to do anything that will upset the church hierarchy, even though the vast majority of the public agree with us….This is not religious education which is teaching young people about different religions in a non-confessional way. This is religious worship and we don’t think it is appropriate that continues in the 21st century.”
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