Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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113. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the responsibility on teachers to teach religion in primary schools (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31235/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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My Department, in the context of the Education Act (1998), recognises the rights of the different church authorities to design curricula in religious education at primary level and to supervise their teaching and implementation. The Primary Curriculum (1999) makes it clear that both the development and the implementation of the curriculum in religious education in primary schools is the responsibility of the relevant church authorities.

Developing a curriculum for religious education in primary schools:

The Primary Curriculum documentation developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in 1999 does not include a curriculum for Religious Education and my Department’s Inspectorate does not evaluate the religious education programme provided by a primary school. Religious education programmes delivered in denominational primary schools are designed by church authorities and multi-denominational schools (such as Educate Together schools and Community National Schools) take responsibility for designing their own programmes.

Currently, the NCCA is revising the primary curriculum. In September 2016, the new Primary Language Curriculum for junior infants to second class commenced implementation. This work will continue for all other aspects of the primary curriculum over the coming years.

Implementing a curriculum for religious education in primary schools:

The Primary Curriculum 1999 recognises the affective, aesthetic, spiritual, moral and religious dimensions of the child’s experience and development. The Curriculum provides for the child’s spiritual, moral and religious development through the breadth of learning experiences the curriculum offers, through the child’s engagement with the aesthetic and affective domains of learning, and through the inclusion of religious education as one of the areas of the curriculum.

The basis on which teachers teach a religious education programme in primary schools:

The patron of the school determines its ethos and in a denominational school, it is the responsibility of the school management, through the teachers in the school, to provide a religious education that is consonant with its ethos. The board of management has responsibility for the overall management of the school and, within the resources available to it, the board provides support for the implementation of all aspects of the curriculum. The contract that a teacher signs with a board is a matter for that teacher and the board of management of the school and my Department does not have a role in that process.

When students are studying to become primary teachers, they study a programme that reflects the primary curriculum in order to graduate as teachers. In addition, colleges of education offer a certificate in religious studies. More recently, most colleges have developed new approaches to the methodology of religious education, which typically emphasise ethics, moral education and education about belief systems. Teachers employed in primary schools will be aware that some boards of management require a teacher to have satisfactorily completed the certificate course or equivalent in order to be considered for appointment. They will also be aware of the school’s approach to religious education or alternative programmes offered, such as ethics, moral education and education about other belief systems.

Time in primary schools:

The Primary Curriculum 1999 provides a suggested minimum weekly time framework to assist teachers and schools in planning the implementation of the curriculum. The guideline framework includes time for secular teaching, including discretionary time which can be allocated, at the teacher’s and at the school’s discretion, to any of the six curriculum areas or to any of the subjects within them. A minimum weekly time allocation of 20 hours (including discretionary time) is recommended for each of the six curriculum areas. In addition, typically, 2.5 hours is allocated to religious education in the weekly time framework. The balance of the time in the week available provides for breaks and assembly time.