Home Archived Letters: Religion in assembly is cross examined - Paul Pettinger Back Letters: Religion in assembly is cross examined - Paul Pettinger 14th August 2009, 1:00am Paul Pettinger Share Letters: Religion in assembly is cross examined - Paul Pettinger https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/letters-religion-assembly-cross-examined-paul-pettinger Copy Link Original paper headline: Religion in assembly is cross examinedDr Barry Morgan, the Archbishop of Wales, ignores any meaningful alternatives to holding daily collective worship in schools (“Worship opt- out is betrayal of the young”, August 7). School assemblies can and should have a role in helping recognise shared values, asking searching questions and promoting understanding in diverse communities. However, they can do this more effectively without mandated worship, where there is no shared religious faith.Dr Morgan describes the legal requirement for daily worship as only an “invitation”, rather than a “mandate”. If he really considers it only an invitation then why is he so keen to prevent 16 to 18-year-olds choosing not to take part? Of course, the worship is not an invitation, but a compulsory and uncivil infringement on young people.Only last year, Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights called for any child of “sufficient maturity, intelligence and understanding” to be given the right to withdraw from compulsory religious worship in schools, not only those over 16, given the clear violation of young people’s rights by having compulsory worship in all schools.A large majority of young people are non-religious. It would be far better to replace the requirement for collective worship with one requiring inclusive assemblies that would be suitable for all children, as well as staff. For as long as the current law remains, however, children must be allowed to decide whether they wish to participate.Paul Pettinger, Faith schools and education campaigns officer, British Humanist Association, London. Want to keep reading for free? Register with Tes and you can read two free articles every month plus you'll have access to our range of award-winning newsletters. Register Log in Keep reading for just £1 per month You've reached your limit of free articles this month. Subscribe for £1 per month for three months and get: Unlimited access to all Tes magazine content Exclusive subscriber-only stories Award-winning email newsletters Subscribe now Nothing found Recent Most read Most shared Heads: DfE failure to scrap Ofsted grades ‘deeply disappointing’ News 25 April 2024 Keegan: I’ll look at how we can fund teacher pay rise News 24 April 2024 Exams: How Ofqual plans to cope with AI News 24 April 2024 A simple but radical new way to assess writing Teaching & Learning 22 April 2024 Fitness to teach cases in Scotland hit 10-year high News 23 April 2024 5 basic errors that ruin teacher job applications Analysis 23 April 2024 5 basic errors that ruin teacher job applications Analysis 23 April 2024 Starmer: Halt ‘damaging decline’ of PE News 22 April 2024 A 4-point plan for transparent AI use in schools Analysis 22 April 2024
