MSP Letter: Compulsory worship in schools

End compulsory worship in schools

Writing to your MSP can help to get the campaign against compulsory worship in schools on the political agenda. We campaign in parliament as an organisation, and your support will bolster our case.

Hints and tips

Personalising your letter will make it more likely to have an impact.
Keep your thoughts fairly brief. MSPs are busy and get a lot of correspondence.
Use clear and simple language.

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Message*:

Dear {{name}}

You may be aware the High Court in Belfast recently ruled that daily collective worship in schools is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. This ruling has implications not just for Northern Ireland, but for all UK nations where collective worship is still a legal requirement in schools. I am therefore writing to ask you to support an end to these archaic and unfair laws which are incompatible with the freedom of religion or belief of children and their families, including religious observance (RO) in Scotland's schools.

The United Kingdom is the only Western democracy to legally impose worship in publicly funded schools. The Education (Scotland) Act 1980 provides the statutory basis for local authorities to provide RO in Scottish schools.

The legal requirement for pupils to take part in religious worship on every school day is a clear breach of young people’s human rights. No-one – whether adult or child – should be forced to worship. Children enjoy the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion under both Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 14(1) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

School authority-led worship is inherently coercive. Parents have the right to withdraw children from RO, but many parents regard this as an unreasonable imposition on both themselves and their children. Particularly in the majority of schools without a religious character or ethos, there should be no reason why parents should have to withdraw their children from any part of the school day in order to ensure their rights to raise their child in accordance with their own religious or philosophical convictions are respected.

The law requiring worship in schools is an anachronism. It is nothing but a legacy of a society unrecognisable from the diverse and pluralistic Scotland of today where citizens hold a wide variety of religious beliefs, and increasingly, no religious beliefs. Compulsory worship causes division and discrimination, as well as opening the door to evangelism and proselytism.

School assemblies are an important feature of school life. Inclusive assemblies with an ethical dimension are an ideal time to foster a sense of community in schools and promote the moral and social development of pupils.

Acts of worship are neither necessary nor desirable to achieve these important educational goals and compelling worship breaches pupils' freedom of religion and belief. We would instead like to see a duty on schools to ensure that all aspects of its curriculum, including assemblies, are respectful and inclusive of all pupils, regardless of their religion or belief, including non-belief.

I urge you to take action to put an end to discriminatory and divisive compulsory worship in schools by working to abolish the law requiring state schools to hold RO.

Yours sincerely,

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MSP Letter: Compulsory worship in schools

End compulsory worship in schools

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