Cathal BarryAllowing children to opt out of religion classes could cost taxpayers millions of euro, a leading education expert has warned.
John Walshe, a former special advisor to Ruairí Quinn during his tenure as Education Minister, claimed that if large numbers of parents decided to withdraw their children from religious education, schools would have to make provision for extra teaching resources and that the bill, “which would run into millions”, would have to be “picked up by the taxpayer”.
Mr Walshe’s comments came after the board of management at Castletroy College in Limerick conceded to the request of parent Paul Drury to withdraw his daughter, a first year student, from religious education classes.
Writing in the Irish Independent, Mr Walshe warned that if large numbers of parents “take a similar stance, citing their right to withdraw their children from religious instruction, this could create a timetabling nightmare for schools”.
Unacceptable
Noting that school principals have a “legal obligation” to make sure the opted out students are supervised, Mr Walshe said informal arrangements such as “letting the pupil sit at the back of the class and do their homework or study something else are unacceptable to a growing number of parents”.
“It’s not always possible to slot the opted-out pupil into another class so it can end up with the school having to provide a teacher for supervision purposes,” he said, adding that there was “concern” among some of those involved in education that many more families would now want their children to opt out of religion classes.
“If they do in large numbers and schools have to make provision for extra teaching resources, the bill, which could eventually run into millions, will have to be picked up by the taxpayer,” he warned.
Mr Walshe described as “laudable” the aim of the religious education programme – to “appreciate the richness of religious traditions and to acknowledge the non-religious interpretations of life”.
“It seems a shame in these troubled times that every pupil does not avail of the right to opt-in rather than opt-out of such a programme,” he said.