Meeting of the Parliament 17 February 2026 [Draft]
As we have heard this afternoon, Maggie Chapman’s amendments 6 and 11 would replace references to “religious instruction” with the term “religious education” in section 8 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980.
I understand that concerns have been expressed at use of the word “instruction”—a point that I recently discussed with the Humanist Society. National guidance has long been clear that religious and moral education is expected to cover learning from a range of faiths and world-views, including beliefs independent of religion, in an objective manner.
I discussed the amendments in this area with the Scottish Catholic Education Service last week and, as we have heard this afternoon, it expressed concern regarding the perceived impact on denominational schools in particular, including on learning outwith the classroom. In practice, the term “instruction” in the 1980 act has long been understood to mean teaching or education, and it appears throughout the 1980 act, including in contexts entirely unrelated to religion.
There are currently 27 uses of the term “instruction” in the 1980 act as it would stand after the passing of the bill. The amendments would update only a fraction of the references in the act, and they would they leave references to “religious instruction” in other sections unchanged—including in sections dealing with the management of denominational schools, for example.
While it might be fair to say that the terminology is somewhat outdated, especially given modern curriculum practice, the amendments risk creating inconsistency and uncertainty in how the legislation should be interpreted. They might create an argument that “religious education” and “religious instruction” are two substantially different things under the 1980 act, which of course is not the case.