Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee 16 December 2025 [Draft]
As we have heard, the amendments in group 1 relate to the scope of rights concerning the withdrawal of pupils from religious observance and/or religious and moral education. I will therefore speak to them as a group.
Amendments 9 to 17 and 19, in the name of Maggie Chapman, would separate religious observance and religious and moral education, or RME, as it is known. That would mean that the parental right to withdraw would apply to religious observance only. Should those amendments be agreed to, it will no longer be possible to withdraw a child from RME. The amendments give effect to the committee’s recommendation in its stage 1 report that religious observance and RME should be separated, so that the ability to withdraw would apply only to religious observance.
The committee made clear its recognition of the benefits of RME for community cohesion—particularly in the current times—and its importance as a core curriculum area. That view has also been echoed by a number of stakeholders, as we have heard this morning, including the Scottish Teachers Association of RME, and representatives of various faith and belief groups, including the Humanist Society Scotland.
I agree with the committee and the stakeholders. As well as being a valuable academic discipline in itself, RME supports and enables children and young people to learn about and from different religions and worldviews and explore ethical questions.
Contemporary RME is very different from the religious instruction of the past and in the context of the 1870s, when the parental right to withdraw was first introduced. RME is one of the eight core curriculum areas, and it is delivered in a manner that is objective, critical and pluralistic. The amendments would also remove the oddity of RME being the only curriculum area with an associated legal withdrawal right.
However, I recognise the continuing need to provide non-statutory guidance and curriculum frameworks to safeguard the integrity of the subject. I will also be thoughtful about ensuring that those changes work in practice for denominational schools, as we have heard, which rightly have specific legal protections in relation to their faith character.