It is particularly disturbing that confessional (indoctrinating) religious education classes form a compulsory component in publicly-funded schools in some EU Member States. We have evidence of confessional religious education being taught when it is not supposed to be, generally as a result of a teacher or headteacher being enthusiastically religious themselves.
Given the plural nature of Europe’s citizens, Religious Education (RE) in publicly funded schools should be unbiased and strictly non-confessional. Except in schools run by religious bodies, religious groups should have minimal influence on RE. Any syllabus should be determined by independent academics without a partisan religious agenda.
In some states, confessional RE is a statutory requirement, and some have even entered into international treaty obligations with the Vatican requiring them to do so. For example, a 1984 concordat between Italy and the Vatican means Catholic confessional religious education must be offered by Italian schools. Although the teachers are paid from Italian public funds, the Church recruits them. It also dictates the curricula and even the textbooks used. Attendance is however optional for students, but no alternative subject is available for students wishing to opt-out.
Proponents for religious, even confessional, teaching claim that it is essential for cohesion, ethics and morality. It would be easier to make the argument that cohesion is hampered by emphasising religious differences, and even more by claiming that one religion is the true one.
Proponents’ arguments on ethics and morality are weakened by a 2008 Eurobarometer poll that showed that only 7% of the EU population count religion as one of the three most important personal values for them. It therefore seems unlikely that it will be a major source of information on morality or ethics.
[1] Recommendation of UK Parliamentary Human Rights Committee (JCHR) http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt200506/jtselect/jtrights/247/24705.htm#n28