Sir, – With so many of our schools under religious patronage it is disheartening to see a Minister for Education supporting a right to opt out of education about diverse beliefs.
Studying such a subject means pupils cannot be ignorant of others’ perspectives and cloistered within their own belief system.
The National Council for Curriculum Assessment (NCCA) and the examining bodies have failed in their duty to ensure that what is taught and examined is what is in the curriculum.
Myself and other humanists pointed this flaw out decades ago to the NCCA and the Department of Education and they simply repeated the practice of the old curriculum promoted by the Dublin diocese. That too had a wonderful curriculum which covered diverse religions but of course it was seldom reflected in what was taught, although I did have an opportunity to teach Buddhism and Islam while the priest in our college was on holiday.
The curriculum and teaching of religious education needs to be tightened up so that all must answer questions on comparative belief systems and only then will parents be assured that it is not indoctrination under another guise.
If the Minister would focus her attention on this reform, parents would have no reason to fear their children participating and there would be no imperative for some of them to withdraw from what could no longer be seen as instruction in a particular faith.
– Yours, etc,
DICK SPICER
Bray,
Co Wicklow.