The UK Supreme Court ruled on 19 November in favour of what appeared to be a ban on Christian-focused Religious Education (RE) in Northern Ireland’s state-run primary schools.
The ruling has been seen as a huge win by many humanist organisations; juxtaposed by the feeling of loss amongst the four major Christian denominations in NI who fought to keep the current curriculum.
From the start, however, it is important to note that this is not a ban on RE in schools in NI, nor is it a ban on teaching about Christianity. Instead, it is a ruling that the Christian-focused RE taught in primary schools in NI is unlawful under the ECHR Protocol 1 Article 2 provisions for education – even with regards to the ability for parents to opt-out of RE.
