Religion in Schools | Secular Education News

November 2, 2017 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

Minister for Education’s Dail answer is misleading about religious ethos of Model Schools

Last week Minister for Education Richard Bruton answered a written Dail question from Ruth Coppinger TD about the status of religious instruction in schools in which he or a public body is the Patron. Minister Bruton’s answer began: “As Minister for Education and Skills, in accordance with the Education Act ...

October 28, 2017 1 Comment Teach Dont Preach

Archbishop confirms that state-funded Irish schools are vital centres for Catholic evangelisation

In a speech last week to a conference on Catholic education, Archbishop Eamon Martin said that Catholic schools remain 'vital centres for evangelisation and catechesis'. Atheist Ireland has for years been pointing out this damning fact: that our publicly funded school system is part of the evangelising mission of the ...

October 23, 2017 1 Comment Teach Dont Preach

Education Minister responds to Atheist Ireland FOI documents; promises new guidelines on opting out of religion

Atheist Ireland has written to the Minister for Education seeking an input into the new guidelines that he has committed to issuing for children opting out of religion classes in State-run ETB schools. The Minister was responding to questions by RTE's Emma O'Kelly about documents that Atheist Ireland obtained under ...

October 15, 2017 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

Tipperary ETB is evading its legal duty to decide on school ethos

The RTE News Education Correspondent, Emma O’Kelly, has described as “extraordinary” the statement by the CEO of Tipperary ETB that its secondary schools have a Catholic ethos. This was revealed in documents obtained by Atheist Ireland under the Freedom of Information Act, which we published here. Legal duty of the ...

October 13, 2017 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

NCCA relegates to a footnote “faith formation alongside teaching the State syllabus”

In a Background Paper and Brief for the Review of Junior Cycle Religious Education, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment has relegated one of the main human rights issues with regard to the State Religious Education course to a footnote on page 9 of a 47-page document. In that ...

October 6, 2017 2 Comments Teach Dont Preach

Freedom of Information Documents show State ETB schools have a specifically Catholic ethos

The Minister for Education and ETB Ireland are both presenting ETB schools as the State-run multi-denominational alternative for parents who do not want a Catholic education for their children. They are promoting ETB schools ahead of Educate Together schools. But Atheist Ireland has obtained documents under the Freedom of Information ...

September 21, 2017 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

Irish schools breach parents’ human right to keep their religious or nonreligious convictions private

Michael Moriarty, General Secretary of Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI), has said that Irish schools are bound by decades-old rules around the teaching of religion that no longer reflect the reality of a rapidly-changing society. But one of the most fundamental breaches of human rights in our schools is ...

September 9, 2017 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

New Report: Tipperary ETB/CTI is Failing in its Duty to Promote and Respect Human Rights

Atheist Ireland has prepared this comprehensive report on how Tipperary Education and Training Board (ETB), through its Central Technical Institute (CTI) in Clonmel, is failing in its statutory obligation to promote and protect the rights of minorities in their schools, based on the details of a recent case at the ...

September 1, 2017 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

Does Tipperary Education and Training Board have a Christian ethos?

In a recent case, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found in favour of Tipperary Education and Training Board (ETB), in a case taken by a computer science and maths teacher. The teacher had claimed that he was discriminated against on the ground of religion in the Central Technical Institute in ...

August 25, 2017 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

New case shows that the Irish State directly imposes a Catholic ethos in ETB Schools

A recent case at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) vindicates the position of Atheist Ireland in relation to religion in the Education & Training Board (ETB) schools and colleges. We have consistently argued that ETB schools are run as religious schools, and that most of them have a Catholic or ...