In her analysis of the teaching of religion in schools in western Europe, academic Wanda Alberts outlines three main approaches, 1) education into religion, which “quite clearly describes a religious framework” 2) education about religion/s within a secular framework where knowledge about religion is communicated in a secular manner, and 3) education from religion (‘learning from religion’) which is ambiguous but “often presupposes some kind of moral superiority of religion in general or of individual religious traditions, including the idea that aspects of these traditions are advisable to be integrated into the pupils‘ own set of values”.

It is clear to us that if RECS is passed into law as is, the religious curriculum in Northern Ireland will have partly moved from ‘education into religion’ to ‘education from religion’ as per Alberts’ schema, while paying lip-service to aspects of ‘teaching about religion’. For example, the document’s ‘Vision statement', which retains Christianity as the core element of the curriculum, “includes an appreciation of Christianity’s influence on values, traditions, institutions and public life, and of the way in which Christian beliefs and traditions continue to play an important role in the ethos and identity of many schools”. How can this prescriptive presentation of the “identity of many schools” be seen as anything other than an attempt to retain the association of Christian beliefs and traditions as being an essential to the school while the beliefs and traditions of others are not?

According to the DE statistical analysis team, in the school year 2025-26, of the 73,594 children attending controlled primary schools, 52% were designated as Protestant, almost 8% Catholic, and almost 40% were designated as Other Christian/None/Other. (In controlled secondary schools this figure is somewhat lower, at 32.64%). Granular data released to Parents for Inclusive Education shows that in controlled primary schools 70% of the Other Christian/None/Other group (almost 24,000 students) are designated as ‘no religion’, amounting to 32.6% of all pupils. What should the ethos and identity of these schools be if they are to reflect their composition and respect the differences between students? To reiterate, 48% of the children attending these schools are not designated as belonging to any Protestant denomination and almost a third are designated as having no religion. It is important to note that a secular, education system open to all would render these issues moot.

What materials will be presented to students under the proposed the new religion curriculum? How will an objective, critical and pluralist curriculum deliver the materials? The curriculum document offers considerable leeway for schools in the presentation and materials they can use in delivering the curriculum: