Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 September 2013
289. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which his Department has developed a strategy to modernise the State education system to reflect a curriculum based on ethical education; if his Department's attention has been drawn to the educational benefits of the Educate Together programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37255/13]
View answerReligious education is one of the seven curricular areas of the Primary Curriculum and schools are currently required to allocate thirty minutes per day for religious instruction. However, unlike other subject areas, the content of the religious curriculum provided by schools is not set by my Department. The Education Act recognises the rights of the different church authorities to design curricula in religious education and to supervise their teaching and implementation. This means that the content of the religious education programme in a particular primary school is determined by the patron of the school. The situation is similar at post primary level, where a programme of religious instruction approved by the school patron may be offered. However, post primary schools also have the option of using the Religious Education curriculum which has been designed as an examinable subject at Junior and Leaving Certificate by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA). The NCCA syllabuses are academic in nature. They are concerned with understanding religion as a phenomenon in the world and are designed to be studied by students of all religious faiths and of none. The new specification for Religion in Junior Cycle, as part of the new Junior Cycle Framework, will be available for September 2017. It is important to note that, under section 30 of the Education Act (1998), no student can be required to attend instruction in any subject which is contrary to the conscience of the parent of the student. My Department continues to implement the measures identified in the Action Plan that I published in June 2012 in response to the Report of the Advisory Group to the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism. As well as implementing the measures that will ensure that school patronage, in the selected areas, reflects parental preferences, I have also requested the NCCA to start exploring, with the education partners and religious interests, the development of Education about Religion and Beliefs (ERB) and Ethics programmes which will supplement existing faith formation programmes in schools. The developmental work will draw on current practice in schools in this area as well as international good practice and research and will be informed by the same pedagogical principles that underpin the rest of the primary school curriculum. The work will also be informed by the experiences of the Community National Schools, under the auspices of the Education and Training Boards. The unique 'Goodness Me Goodness You' multi-belief programme being developed with and by those schools in an action research approach, is premised on inter-religious dialogue and dialogue between religion and belief systems. The programme they are developing will become available on-line over the coming months and it will be of interest to all working in the field of religious education.
