Religious Education in Controlled Schools in Northern Ireland. Violation of the right of parents to respect their religious beliefs in the education of their children.
Normative references
Art. 2 Prot. No. 1 ECHR
Art.9 ECHR
Ruling
1. Although States have a wide margin of appreciation in establishing and organising the school curriculum in public primary and secondary schools and may legitimately provide for religious instruction, even confessionally oriented, the latter, in order not to constitute a violation of the right of parents to educate their children in accordance with their own philosophical and religious convictions (under Article 2 P1 ECHR), must be taught in an objective, critical and pluralist manner, without any indoctrination.
2. Religious education based on the teaching of the Holy Scriptures cannot be considered objective, neutral and pluralist if it results in teaching students to explore the content and structure of the Bible, to compose their prayers based on it and to sing religious songs, conveying the message that the Bible is the word of God, who in turn is the creator of all things.
3. The possibility of exemption from religious instruction offered by the school is not a sufficient response to the lack of educational pluralism, since it could place an excessive burden on parents (in terms of exposing sensitive aspects of their private lives), which could dissuade them from requesting the exemption of their child, who would remain exposed to the risk of marginalization.
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