WHEN the United Nations first suggested earlier this year that children in Scotland should be given the right to withdraw from religious worship in schools without their parents’ consent, the reaction from the Scottish Government was lukewarm to say the least. However, a few months on, the Humanist Society Scotland (HSS) is now turning up the pressure and intends to go to court to enforce the opt-out ¬- which raises a fascinating question: exactly what role should religion play in the modern Scottish school?

The position of the Scottish Government appears to be that the status quo is fine. When the UN first raised the prospect of pupils opting out of religious worship in its report on children’s rights, the government reacted by saying that religious and moral education was one of the eight core areas of the Curriculum for Excellence and gave pupils the opportunity to explore beliefs and values and understand the role they play in their communities.

The Humanist Society Scotland on the other hand believes that education should be entirely secular but short of achieving that, it would like the Scottish Government to comply with the UN report and allow pupils to opt out without consulting their parents. The society has not specified in its legal action at what age pupils should be given the right, but it has argued that, at the very least, pupils over 16 should be given the opt-out. This would bring Scotland into line with the law in England and Wales – currently in Scotland, a pupil cannot opt out without parental permission.

However, caution is needed before we rush to reduce the role of religion in schools. It is true that Scotland is becoming a more secular nation in all areas of life, and regular attendance at church has certainly reduced dramatically; the number of Scots identifying with the Church of Scotland has also declined. However, church attendance is only one aspect of the bigger picture. Earlier this year, research by the Church of Scotland found that two-thirds of people who have stopped attending church nevertheless maintain a strong personal faith. In other words, the decline in Christian faith is considerably smaller than we have been led to suppose – it may be that we have entered a new age of churchless faith.

What this means for education is not quite as simple as saying that Scotland is more secular therefore religion has no place in the classroom. However, it is important that the education system reflects the fact that many young people are not religious and may not want to take part in formal religious observance. Thirty years ago, they would have had no choice in the matter and even now they can only opt out if their parents apply to do so on their behalf.

It is time now to consider a change. For younger pupils, it is important that they continue to opt out in consultation with their parents or guardians, but the case for allowing pupils of 16 or over to opt out on their own is a strong one. As the Humanist Society points out, 16 year olds can marry or join the army and two years ago were entrusted to vote on the future of the nation, so why would we not trust them to make their own minds up on the subject of religion? Religious education and observance still has a central part to play in schools, but when young people become young adults, not everyone should be forced to take part.