Consultation Paper: Proposals to amend the legislation on religious observance and religious education in schools to support alignment with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

Overview of the Consultation

Why the government wants to amend the legislation

6. Given the questions around current legislation on RO and RME and the Scottish Government’s UNCRC obligations, the Scottish Government proposes to amend the legislation to ensure clarity and put the position in relation to UNCRC compliance beyond doubt as soon as possible.

The proposed amendments

7. The Scottish Government proposes to amend section 9 of the 1980 Act to require due weight to be given to the pupil’s views when parents are exercising their right to withdraw their child from RO/RME, which would bring legislation into line with existing guidance on RO.

8. Given that any action short of the proposed amendments would not achieve the Scottish Government’s objective set out above, this consultation:

• sets out the intended legislative change; and
• seeks any views on the positive and/or negative implications of these changes as well as insights into how the right to withdraw currently works in practice, which may help to inform implementation.

Given that the proposed legislation on RO/RME would effectively bring a key principle of existing guidance into law, we do not expect there to be significant practical implications resulting from these changes. However, responses to this consultation will also help inform further consideration given to implementation and any potential support that may be appropriate. In particular, we would be keen to gather better information on how schools implement the current guidance.

Consultation questions

9. The attached consultation questionnaire contains 6 questions seeking consultees’ views on the proposed changes.