Articles Archives | Teach Dont Preach

November 14, 2019 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

Atheist Ireland tells NCCA that Education Act must be amended for objective sex education

The NCCA is reviewing the state courses on relationship and sex education in schools. It has already issued a Draft Report. Unfortunately, this Draft Report does not follow through on its commitment to human rights standards in the delivery of RSE in Irish schools, and it does not recommend amending ...

November 7, 2019 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

The right of the child to freedom of conscience, religion and belief

In a speech called “The future of Ireland Human rights and children’s rights”, the former President Mary McAleese said that she wanted to come to the debate over education in a different way from the usual arguments about integrated education, reduction of Catholic school patronage, or how to provide opt-outs ...

November 5, 2019 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

European Court says opting out of religion class must not place an undue burden on parents

Last week the European Court found that the exemption procedure from a Religion class in Greek schools placed an undue burden on parents with a risk of exposure of sensitive aspects of their private life. The Court went on to say that the potential for conflict was likely to deter ...

November 5, 2019 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

Government blocking Objective Sex Education Bill and 50 others

The Government is using a procedure called a Money Message to block over 50 Bills that have been passed in the Dail by opposition parties, including Solidarity’s Bill to provide Objective Sex Education without interference by a school’s religious ethos. Solidarity and People Before Profit will be proposing a new ...

October 16, 2019 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

Schools teach relevance of religion, as relevance of religion declines

A new specification for religious education in Irish schools aims to teach all children about the relevance of religion to their lives, just as the number of couples choosing a religious marriage is consistently decreasing year on year. Last September, a new specification for NCCA Religious Education was introduced in ...

October 15, 2019 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

Catholic School lesson plan promotes sexist, violent, antisemitic, forged Bible passage

A lesson plan in the Catholic Grow in Love series, for sixth class students, has the students acting out the Bible story about “the woman caught in adultery." This will be taught in about 90% of State-funded primary schools in Ireland, and teachers who want a job in these schools ...

October 8, 2019 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

State pays €9.8m a year for chaplains in State ETB schools

According to a recent Parliamentary response to a question by Ruth Coppinger, there are 156 Chaplains working in ETB schools, at a cost of €9.8 million to the State. Over half of second level schools are denominational, and most of the rest are defined as multi-denominational State schools with the ...

October 7, 2019 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

Campaign to Separate Church and State v Minister for Education 1995

The Campaign to Separate Church and State case in 1995 is one of the main cases that dealt with religion in Irish schools. The case went to the High Court first and then went on to the Supreme Court. The judgements from the High Court and Supreme Courts are below ...

October 7, 2019 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

Internal ETBI report vindicates Atheist Ireland claims about religion in State schools

Today the Irish Times published details of an internal ETBI report that vindicates what Atheist Ireland has been saying for years about the teaching of religion in Education and Training Board schools. ETBs are supposed to be the State-run alternative to denominational schools, but unfortunately many of them are run ...

July 11, 2019 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

Please ask your TDs to ensure that all abuse victims in Louise O’Keeffe case get compensation

Please contact your local TDs and ask them to ensure that all the victims of abuse in Irish schools, similar to that in the Louise O'Keeffe case, get justice and compensation. The Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar has apologised to victims of abuse in day schools. But the State has for the ...