GROWING numbers of Scots think that rules should be changed so that children should not be made to take part in religious observances in school, a poll has shown.
A YouGov survey, for the Times newspaper, shows that more than one-third (38 per cent) of adults believe that there should not be a place for worship in the school curriculum.
A further 17 per cent of Scots said that their preferenceed option would be for observance to continue but for children to be able to opt out, even without parental consent.
The Scottish Government is considering changing its guidance for religious observance, which says that the “Education (Scotland) Act 1980 continues to impose a statutory duty on local authorities to provide religious observance in Scottish schools”.
Religious observance must take place at least six times every school year in non-denominational schools. Scottish pupils currently have no right to withdraw themselves, and can only do so with parent approval.
Sixth-form pupils and their parents in England and Wales already have the right to voluntarily opt out of religious observance, and in June the UN children’s rights committee urged Scottish ministers to follow suit.
The Humanist Society Scotland had launched a legal challenge against the Government, but was pausing this in light of the consultation. Chief executive Gordon MacRae said: “The evidence is now stacking up, the approach of the Scottish Government is untenable.”
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