Humanists UK is calling on the UK Government to urgently review the RE and collective worship laws in state schools in England, following today’s landmark Supreme Court judgment on whether the exclusively Christian teaching of Religious Education (RE) and collective worship in Northern Ireland were ‘indoctrination’.
The case, known as JR87, was brought by a non-religious parent and their child. They won the case in the Northern Ireland High Court, but lost at the Court of Appeal and subsequently took it to the Supreme Court. After a hearing in May, the Supreme Court has now ruled that a curriculum not being ‘objective, critical, or pluralistic’ and its being ‘indoctrinating’ are ‘two sides of the same coin’. The Court also ruled that the right of withdrawal is clearly stigmatising in a context where no other children are withdrawn. Parents having a ‘reasonable apprehension’ of such stigma is ‘sufficient’ to mean they do not have to have actually withdrawn their children and found that stigma does indeed occur.
While the case concerned Northern Ireland, the judgment has profound implications across the UK. In England, the law still requires all state-funded schools to provide a daily act of collective worship, ‘wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character’, even in schools without a religious character. Parents and, in England, sixth-form pupils, have the right to withdraw from these acts of worship, but this is often experienced as isolating or stigmatising.
Meanwhile, RE in many state faith schools is single-faith-based, just like in Northern Ireland, and parents and children often don’t have a choice but to attend such schools. Even in schools of no religious character, the level of inclusion of humanism varies considerably – something that already has been the subject of two adverse Court judgments, but that is yet to be fully fixed.
Humanists UK is now calling on the UK Government to launch an urgent review of collective worship laws in England in light of the Supreme Court’s judgment. It has also said that that the judgment points the way forward on ongoing review of RE.
Humanists UK’s Education Campaigns Manager Lewis Young said:
‘Today’s judgment makes it crystal clear that you cannot respect families’ human rights simply by telling them they can opt out of a system that is, at its core, religiously one-sided. In light of this ruling, the position on faith-based RE and collective worship has become impossible to justify.
‘The UK Government must urgently review the RE and collective worship laws in England and move to replace them with inclusive assemblies and teaching that respect every child’s freedom of belief.’
Notes
For further comment or information, media should contact Wales Humanists Coordinator Kathy Riddick at kathy@humanists.uk or phone 07881 625 378.
Read the Supreme Court ruling.
Read NI Humanists’ comment on the case.
Read Wales Humanists’ comment on the case.
Read more about our work on collective worship.
Humanists UK is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people. Powered by over 150,000 members and supporters, we advance free thinking and promote humanism to create a tolerant society where rational thinking and kindness prevail. We provide ceremonies, pastoral care, education, and support services benefitting over a million people every year and our campaigns advance humanist thinking on ethical issues, human rights, and equal treatment for all.
