A bill which would change the process for withdrawing pupils from religious observance or religious and moral education at school was discussed on Tuesday 30 September at the Scottish Parliament.
Claire Benton-Evans, the Provincial Youth Co-ordinator of the Scottish Episcopal Church, appeared before the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee as part of a panel of faith group members, following a submission made by the Church in Society committee at the ‘call for views’ stage of the bill.
Responding to a question from Paul McLennan MSP, Claire said: “I’m here to say that young people can choose what they believe. Everyone in this room has the right to choose their religion, or none, and I’m here to support that right for young people too.
“The young people I work with in the Scottish Episcopal Church choose to come back to us again and again. The SEC values their contribution so much that we invite them to address our annual meeting, our General Synod, at the start of business every year. So we support in the SEC the UNCRC principle about ‘no decision about me without me’.”
She continued: “There is a bigger point that I’d like to make, which is that religious observance and religious and moral education are different. We were surprised that this bill lumps them together because religious observance is a matter of belief, but RME is a matter of education, and the committee that I represent believes that RME stands firmly within the school curriculum, because our children need to understand other faiths, beliefs and cultures if they’re to grow up in the kind of diverse, inclusive and tolerant society that we want Scotland to be.
“There is a big distinction between RME and religious observance, and this bill doesn’t recognise it.”
The bill is currently at Stage 1, where the lead committee will consider and report on the proposed legislation.