The UK Supreme Court ruled that Northern Ireland’s religious education requirement does not comply with human rights standards. The judgment was made after a father and daughter challenged how religious education was being taught.
The family became concerned after their daughter, named JR87 in the case, prayed before a meal at home. “His concern is that his daughter is learning Christianity and not learning ‘about’ Christianity in a school context that effectively assumes its absolute truth and which encourages her to do the same,” court documents explain.
In 2022, the High Court in Belfast ruled in the family’s favor, finding the Christian education unlawful, Sky News reports. The ruling was later overturned by the Court of Appeal, prompting the family to take the case to the UK Supreme Court.
“[T]he Court of Appeal fell into error by drawing a distinction between conveying knowledge in a manner which was not objective, critical, and pluralistic on the one hand and indoctrination on the other,” the decision read. “The two concepts are merely different sides of the same coin.”
The judgment asserted that the case “is not about secularism in the education system,” emphasizing that “[n]o one is suggesting that religious education should not be provided in schools in Northern Ireland.” The family supports the “provision of religious education provided it does not amount to indoctrination.”
Traditional Unionist Voice MP Jim Allister criticized the ruling, telling the BBC, “The language used – particularly the inflammatory term ‘indoctrination’ is an affront not only to teachers and parents but to the Christian foundations upon which our education system has long rested.”
“I reject entirely the suggestion that Christian teaching in our schools amounts to indoctrination,” he said, explaining that the term has been “weaponized to belittle the sincere Christian ethos that shaped our society, our laws and our moral compass.”
A similar comment was made by former Northern Ireland Education Minister Michelle McIlveen. “For generations, Christian values have shaped the moral character of our school system. Through assemblies, school activities and the everyday life of the classroom, those values have helped form young people with integrity and respect for others,” she said.
