In this regard, before discussing the draft RE core syllabus (henceforth RECS), we note that the Department of Education published a circular (Circular 2026/09) on February 3rd, 2026, which “sets out the arrangements for withdrawal from Religious Education and collective worship in all grant-aided schools in Northern Ireland”. Paragraph 13 states that “partial withdrawal options should enable parents to specify withdrawal from: specific RE topics/units (e.g., miracles; prayer; confessional elements); activities/rituals (e.g., saying prayers, singing hymns, participation in liturgical acts); settings (e.g., whole-school collective worship assemblies)”.

The implication here is that, in addition to assemblies, some RE topics will be confessional in nature and not “objective, critical, and pluralist’ as the law requires, and that parents would be able to withdraw their children from classes that include these confessional elements. If this Circular is acted on with regard to confessional elements, this constitutes a clear breach of the Supreme Court ruling. The Workers Party calls on the DE to revise or remove Circular 2026/09 forthwith and to clarify the standing of any revised Circular in relation to the implementation of the new core curriculum.