The Irish State; Evangelising children into a religious way of life.

Irish schools evangelise children into a religious way of life. The Primary School curriculum and the Rules for National Schools oblige all schools to bring children to a knowledge of god and to ensure that a religious spirit informs and vivify the whole work of the school. Please contact your local TD today and ask them to stop evangelising your child into a religious way of life.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission as well as the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism have both recommended that Rule 68 of the Rules for National Schools should be removed. The Commission has also recommended an amendment to the Education Act 1998 to ensure that the state curriculum is delivered in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner.

Despite all the talk nothing has changed on the ground and this government like all previous governments are doing nothing to protect the rights of parents in the education system.

Please contact your local TDs and ask them to amend the Primary School Curriculum, Remove Rule 68 of the Rules for National Schools and amend the Education Act 1998 in line with the Recommendation from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission which states that:-

Section 15 of the Education Act 1998 should be amended to provide for modifications to the integrated curriculum to ensure that the rights of minority faith or non-faith children are also recognised therein. In this regard the State must take sufficient care that information and knowledge included in the curriculum is conveyed in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner with the aim of enabling pupils to develop a critical mind with regard to religion in a calm atmosphere which is free of any misplaced proselytism;

Here are the relevant sections from the Introduction to the Primary School Curriculum and Rule 68 of the Rules for National Schools.

The Primary School Curriculum states that:

The spiritual dimension of life expresses itself in a search for truth and in the quest for a transcendent element within human experience. The importance that the curriculum attributes to the child’s spiritual development is expressed through the breadth of learning experiences the curriculum offers, through the inclusion of religious education as one of the areas of the curriculum, and through the child’s engagement with the aesthetic and affective domains of learning.” (Introduction Primary School Curriculum, page 27)

The spiritual dimension is a fundamental aspect of individual experience, and its
religious and cultural expression is an inextricable part of Irish culture and history. Religious education specifically enables the child to develop spiritual and moral values and to come to a knowledge of God. (Primary School Curriculum Page 58)

Rule 68 of the Rules for National Schools reads:-

“Of all parts of a school curriculum, Religious Instruction is by far the most important, as its subject matter, God’s honour and service, includes the proper use of all man’s faculties, and affords the most powerful inducements to their proper use. Religious Instruction is, therefore, a fundamental part of the school course, and a religious spirit should inform and vivify the whole work of the school.”